Running to the Beat
by PocketAces
Summary: Shuffle Challenge: 1. Set a music player on shuffle. 2. Write a drabble for each song that comes up. Warnings: Chara. death, ref. to date-rape, mild abuse-Agon, ref. to homophobia, language. All are Sena-centric, but with varied pairings.
1. CantaloopFlip Fantaisa

I don't own Eyeshield 21, nor any of the songs that appear in 'Running to the Beat'.

This is just something stupid I've wanted to do for a while. I know I'll enjoy doing it, so I hope you enjoy reading it. If you're confused, be sure to check the end notes.

* * *

Chapter One: Song One: Cantaloop/Flip Fantasia by US3

Sena smiled to himself as he set up his new MP3 Player he had just gotten for his birthday. It was kinda small, but he didn't have much music on it anyway. Most of the music he did have came from Watt, who was adamant for a cultural music exchange despite the knowledge that Sena didn't have much.

So Sena had an MP3 player full of American music. '_Some it's quite catchy, really.'_ He mused to himself as he stretched himself out for an afternoon jog. It was one of the rare days at Deimon that he got home before midnight, and he wanted to take advantage of the slight December warm-up.

He wandered towards the door and yelled to his mom that he was going out for a jog.

"Alright, Sena! Be safe!" She called back.

He agreed and headed out, starting at a slow run while he fiddled with the settings. '_I guess since I don't really know any of the music, setting it on shuffle will do.'_ He decided, moving to set the little device.

The minute he did, he heard the introduction to the song and quick, jazzy notes.

He sped up, moving into his regular jogging speed as the vocals sped up. Unintentionally, he started nodding along with the fun, brassy music. The vocals were too quick for Sena to really catch, but on and off he'd catch a word or phrase.

"**Hear the poems recited on top of the groove/Smooth, mind, floating like a butterfly/Notes start to float, subtle like a lullaby/Brace yourself as the beat hits ya/Dip trip, flip fantasia" **The smooth voice broke down.

Sena was really enjoying the music. He'd have to remember to send Watt a nice thank you e-mail. And maybe correct his use of 'shonen-ai' in place of the 'shonen' genre of manga.

Inadvertently, Sena started slowing down to no more than a fast walk. And he started humming along with the catchy music.

Slowly, ever so slowly, he started moving in time with the music rather than the pace he'd previously set.

"**Trip the tour upon the rhymes they soar/To an infinite height to the realm of the hardcore/Here we go off I take ya/Dip trip - flip fantasia"**

"Eyeshield?"

Sena froze. The music was just so fun, he had lost track of what he had been doing altogether, and danced down the sidewalk rather than running as he intended. And he'd been caught. He looked up, heart filled with dread, expecting the worst.

He was not disappointed.

"How are you today, Shin-san?" He inquired civilly, while lowering his arms from their previous dance positions.

"I am well." Shin informed him gravely. "What were you doing?"

Sena winced. If nothing else, no one could accuse Shin-san of being too indirect.

"Umm…" Sena hesitated. He cast around desperately for an acceptable response. "Bracing myself for when the beat hits me?"

* * *

A/N: Over the next twenty or so days, I'll be doing 'shuffle drabbles' but playing with the rules a little. For anyone not familiar with the concept, the general idea is to set a music player on shuffle and write a drabble for each song that come up. It depends a little on where you get the challenge, but most of the time the drabble must be written to the time limit of the song. But everyone who knows me knows I'm absolutely OCD about research. So I used the song as inspiration and instead limited my words to no more than 1,500 words. The other thing I played with, was the songs. I have a lot of music on my account that I have but don't listen to for some reason, but my shuffle apparently loves these songs. (orz) So I took a little artistic license for some of the 'shuffle'd songs.

Extra A/N: I always want to dance to this song while it's on… and then I remember I can't dance! DX


	2. Flora's Secret

I don't own Eyeshield 21 nor do I own Flora's Secret by Enya.

Warnings: Check your blood sugar first, this one's tooth-decaying-ly sweet. Unlike the first drabble, the lyrics are not directly in the story, just themes from the song.

* * *

"Juumonji-kun, are you sure this is alright?" Sena worried his lip with his teeth as he ran his fingers reverently over the motorcycle helmet in his hands.

"Don't worry about it." Juumonji grunted. "'s not like _he_ has blackmail material on you."

The 'he' Juumonji was referring to and Sena was worrying about was Hiruma-san. It was the first day of Golden Week, this year, a stretch of five days off work or school for the holidays in May.

When Juumonji heard that Hiruma wanted to continue practice through all of Golden Week, he was the loudest protester, though no one knew why.

Now, watching Juumonji check his bike and mess with his helmet, Sena still only had the faintest clue. Juumonji had called last night and told him that he was going to skip practice and wanted his boyfriend to come with him.

Sena had tried to get the lineman to tell him where they were going, but he was silent, other than handing him the helmet.

Sena shot a last glance at his house, locked up behind him with his parents on vacation. He would have gone with them, but he thought he had practice... _'Either way,' _Sena decided, _'I trust Juumonji-kun, so I'll just have to believe him… No matter how secretive he's being.'_ Sena reached up and fastened his helmet. If it was important to Juumonji-kun, it was important to him.

-

"Juumonji-kun? Where are we?" Sena asked, just over an hour outside of Tokyo. They'd just passed through a town, Kamogawa, and were heading out to the increasingly rural countryside.

"Don't worry about it, we'll be there soon." Juumonji called back over the wind.

Sena just sighed and rested his head on Juumonji's back. With the warmth radiating off the blond boy, and his smell enveloping him, Sena relaxed a finally just watched the scenery.

Juumonji slowed down considerably and turned onto a gravel road. "Hold on," he warned gruffly, "It's going to get a little rougher for a while." He warned and placed a hand on the arms encircling his waist, before returning it to the handle bar.

True to his word, the road wasn't smooth, but it wasn't much longer to their destination.

Juumonji pulled off the small road onto even smaller roads several times. Eventually, the road faded to less than a dirt track.

Juumonji stopped the motorcycle and pulled of his helmet, scanning the area critically, before smiling.

"We're here." Juumonji turned and told his smaller passenger, and helped him dismount. All while giving him the most genuine smile Sena had ever seen.

Sena pulled off his helmet and looked around in awe. They were standing in large, flat field filled with tall grass. Off a little ways was a rather large pond with a dock built into one part of the shore line.

But what he couldn't get over was the sky. Being a city boy his whole life, it was difficult to imaging not being able to see the next building, but here he was in a large field, miles away from the nearest town.

He couldn't be happier.

"Well?" Juumonji asked, almost nervously.

Sena beamed at him. "It's gorgeous. Where are we?"

Juumonji suddenly looked younger as all the tension melted from his face at Sena's acceptance, happiness even.

"I used to come out here while my grandparents were alive. They wanted to move out of Tokyo when they retired, and bought a farm. They were too old to really do much themselves, but they'd always take me out here and play with me. They said they wanted me to know nature as well as I'd grow to know concrete." He looked out at the landscape longingly.

"I-is it alright to bring me here?" Sena asked, shyly. "I don't want to ruin your memories with your grandparents."

Juumonji reached down and caught one of Sena's hands not occupied with the helmet, and intertwined the fingers with his. He caught Sena's gaze, and slowly, deliberately, brought their hands up to his lips, where he placed a tender kiss on the back of Sena's hand.

"I bought you here, so we could start our own memories." He assured, lips still brushing over Sena's hand.

Sena blushed violently, but allowed Juumonji to pull him behind the taller boy, wading into the tall grass. He stopped half way between the pond and the motorcycle, and sat, pulling Sena down with him.

Juumonji gently removed the backpack from Sena's back and pulled it behind his head. Sena looked a little bewildered, staring down at his boyfriend.

"What-" Sena started.

"You've trusted me this far, right? Just, Just, lay down, all right?" Juumonji flushed.

Sena smiled tenderly, and laid his head on Juumonji's chest, directly over his heart beat. He was a little uncertain, but it was beautiful here.

Cautiously, he opened his eyes he didn't know he'd closed. It was about midmorning, so he had to be careful where he looked, but the sky!

Sena gasped a little in surprise. It seemed silly, but he'd never realized just how big the sky was! The sun was warm, soaking though him, warming even his bones. He could smell the fresh scent of the grass crushed under them, and hear the distant 'murrs' of the insects.

The wind blew over the grass, causing the same wave pattern as he'd seen in water. He stilled and heard his boyfriend's heartbeat under his cheek.

But, inevitably, his eyes were drawn back up to the all-encompassing sky. The slow, lazy, fluffy clouds drifting, the sunlight washing everything bright colors it was all amazing to one so well acquainted with filtered air and pictures of the countryside. His eyes follow butterflies and fluffy seeds blowing by, but were always, ultimately, drawn to the sky.

"Juumonji-kun?" Sena hesitated to break the beautiful music of the wind and the crickets, but he had to say it.

"Mmm?" Sena could feel the deep rumble beneath his cheek, and pressed himself a little closer to that blissful contact.

"I can't remember being happier."

Juumonji leaned up and looked down at his little boyfriend. Sena sat up as well; a little worried he'd said the wrong thing.

Finally, Juumonji smiled, and slowly, languidly, kissed Sena.

"I feel that way every day." Juumonji whispered.

* * *

A/n: When Mithras151 found out about my super secret project, he had a song request. How do I say no to such an EPIC beta? I hope you enjoy the syrupy-sweetness. 3


	3. Ich Will

I do not own Eyeshield 21, nor the song Ich Will, nor the translation of the lyrics (Done by Jeremy Williams, ©2003) which are quoted liberally towards the end.

* * *

If he weren't Agon, he'd have been sulking. He was sitting on the sidelines of the Deimon v. Shinryuuji practice game _not _sulking and pretending he wasn't watching intently. When his brother had told him about all those weeks ago, he _hadn't _been looking forward to it. In fact, he'd forgotten about it all together. He'd even scheduled a date for the exact day, coincidently.

It was just bad luck that he had answered his phone when Unsui called, and even worse luck he'd left out a bloodied shirt from last night that his brother could black mail him with.

'_Well,'_ Agon snorted to himself, _'Unko-chan can force me here, but he can't force me onto the Goddamned field.'_

Unsui couldn't; but if that stupid asshole playing his spot didn't shape up and tackle the chibi-trash, then that might.

Agon watched as the asshole playing his spot missed the tackle – again – and the chibi-trash got blindsided by another kid he hadn't bothered to learn the name of. He growled as the asshole (as he was now officially dubbed), extended his hand to help Eyeshield up. It was one thing to play his spot when he didn't feel like it, it was a whole different matter to _offer the opponent a hand up._

Agon stalked onto the field and shoved the asshole out of the way. He glared down at the small running back sprawled out on the ground with his hand half raised.

"Get the fuck off." Agon glared down at Sena, but directed his words at the asshole.

"B-but Agon-senpai…"

"Get the _fuck_ off the field right now!" Agon roared, rounding on the unfortunate player.

Unko-chan grabbed his arm and led him off the field, whispering to him in soft, urgent tones.

Agon smirked to himself at a job well done, and forgetting the original purpose of removing the asshole, grinned insincerely and offered the chibi-trash his hand up, rationalizing in the back of his mind that he could always crush the boy's hand once it was in his grip, but not truly having any plans.

"Need a hand up, Eyeshield-kun? I promise to play nice~!" He smiled cruelly.

Eyeshield 21 looked back up at him, eyes blocked by that revered colored visor, expression unreadable.

"No need to bother, Agon-san." Sena said softly, and pushed himself up.

Stunned, Agon decided this bared further investigating.

Though out the game, he made a conscious effort to honor the kid with his presence. He even stooped so low as to attempt conversation with the boy.

But that ungrateful bastard never said a word. Sometimes he'd smile a weak smile, or nod a bit to acknowledge he was listening, but that chibi-trash never spoke after those last words.

At first he wondered if there were reporters around and the other player was simply trying to maintain an 'Eyeshield' image. But that couldn't be it. Usually reporters were all over him, first thing, chibi-trash second.

Whatever it was; it was pissing him off royally. Didn't that fucking trash know that he didn't even put forward this much effort with most chicks?

Finally, the practice game was over, not that he cared. He didn't care about the score, he didn't care about the chibi-trashes' pathetic friends surrounding him. All he cared about was why that FUCKING TRASH wouldn't even look at him anymore! It was infuriating!

The trash were using the visiting team locker rooms, so in order to clarify this mystery, Agon leaned against the outer wall of the exit, waiting for that trash to exit. He timed it perfectly (of course he did, he was a genius after all.) He'd seen most of the team pass already, and he knew the chibi-trash would have to stay a little longer to bandage the elbow that he's hit _a little_ too hard during the final moments.

The running back wouldn't be allowed to stay alone, though, no. He was too precious commodity to leave lying around in strange locker rooms. They'd left the idiot and his cheerleader sister to guard him. The idiot was easy enough to distract, but the cheerleader was a little more suspicious.

But if there were two words to describe Agon, other than "pure evil", they were "lady killer". He quickly charmed the little girl into dragging her idiot brother away so that he could apologize to _Sena-kun_, check to make sure he wasn't too badly injured, and to help wrap it.

With a slightly more than maniacal grin Agon stalked down the short corridor. When he reached the end, he ended up face-to-face with just the trash he wanted to talk to.

"_Sena-kun_," The mocking name rolled off his tongue.

The boy didn't look up.

"God DAMN it! Look at me!" Agon snarled and shoved the boy into a nearby locker. He grabbed the brunet's chin in one hard, forcing it up and leaving Agon's other hand to press the injured arm into the cold metal. "What the hell is wrong with you?!"

Sena finally looked up.

Agon looked away. He couldn't stand those sad, soulful brown eyes _looking_ at him.

"It's just a game. I won't bother Agon-san again." Sena said softly.

"That's the second time you've talked about fucking bothering me! You're fucking bothering me right now!" Agon raged.

"Agon-san hates me. That's fine. I can take the tackles, but I don't need the verbal attacks on top of that. Please, just let me go." Sena said sadly.

"No." Agon deflated a little, and rested his head on the metal next to Sena's uninjured shoulder. "Why wouldn't you accept my hand up earlier?"

"I don't want to get hurt."

Agon picked his head back up and met Sena's eyes.

Sena gasped. Agon's eyes were _smoldering_ with suppressed emotion. He saw rage, passion, irritation, and… sadness?

"I want you to trust me." Agon meant for it to come out as a command, but it sounded more like a plea.

"I want you to believe me."

Sena let a sigh. "I want to believe Agon-san."

Agon rested his head on Sena's shoulder this time and let his arms drop. "Then none of this ignoring me bullshit anymore. Do you see me?" He hissed. "Do you understand me? Do you feel me?" He continued louder. "Do you hear me? _Can_ you hear me?"

Sena's heart broke at how venerable Agon sounded, with his rage and arrogance stripped away from him. "I hear you." Sena murmured, and wrapped his arms around Agon's head holding it to him.

"I see you." He continued, resting his head against Agon's.

"I feel you." He slipped a hand down, intertwined it with Agon's, and gave it a light squeeze.

"You're mine, then." Agon growled into the crook of Sena's neck, causing the younger boy's breath to hitch. "I want to hear your voice, I want your fantasies, I want your energy. You belong to me, entirely."

Sena smiled tenderly at the head on his shoulder. "Agon-san has a weird way of confessing."

Agon rolled his eyes. "I take back the last part, about your voice."

"Jerk." Sena closed his eyes and held Agon closer.

* * *

A/N: Origninal Lyrics are in German. (they sound cooler, too!) Beta'd by the epic Mithras151 who also suggested the pairing. Hope you enjoyed and please review! (I tried very hard to keep Agon IC, so let me know~!)


	4. From The Neck Down

I own neither Eyeshield 21 nor the song 'From the Neck Down' by Kaiser Chiefs. Nor do I own the quotes used in here

* * *

Sena smiled and dropped the metaphorical bomb.

"Hey, take me to the festival tomorrow night."

Kakei dropped his copy of American Football Monthly.

"Wh-what brought this on so suddenly?" He asked his little boyfriend sprawled out on his bed where he had been doing his summer homework peacefully.

"I missed the one in my area because of Hiruma-san's training, plus I haven't been able to spend much time with you or Mizumachi-kun at all." He pouted.

"All my friends are going to be there…" Kakei trailed off, looking away in an attempt to hide his faint blush.

Sena deflated a little. "Oh."

Knowing without a doubt what that meant, Kakei carefully grabbed Sena's chin and turned his head to face him. "Don't be like that. You know I love you." He leaned over and kissed his forehead.

"…So you love me but you don't want to show me to your friends?" Sena asked, trying to hide the hurt he was feeling from Kakei's piercing gaze.

Kakei sighed. He knew he'd have to address this eventually, especially after spending almost a full summer dating Sena, blissfully happy.

"Sena-kun." Kakei tried to drop a kiss onto those tempting lips, only to be denied by Sena turning his head and the kiss landing on his cheek.

"Sena-kun. I'm only told you that because I'm a greedy, greedy bastard."

"What?" Sena looked up in confusion

Kakei sat on the floor in front of the bed and wrapped his arms around Sena's waist while dropping his head onto Sena's lap so he wouldn't get embarrassed and chicken out. "You're beautiful in every way, and if I take you with me, Onishi and Ohira will keep bugging you, and Mizumachi will hit on you, just to bug me, and I want to keep you all to myself."

Sena ran his fingers through Kakei's hair. "You're still mean." He told him with a playful pout.

"Yeah." Kakei smiled and buried his head into Sena's stomach.

"Psh, that just means you have to win me a fish." Sena joked.

"Wouldn't your cat eat it?" Kakei asked.

"I take offense! Pitt is a very well behaved cat!"

Kakei smiled in relief for being let off the hook. It was true that Onishi, Ohira, and Mizumachi would be pests, but he didn't really mind. What he was really afraid of was formally meeting Sena's friends as his boyfriend. He'd better train more, if he wanted to live to face his boyfriend on the field again.

* * *

A/N: This is kinda a jokey/mean song, so I took a bit of creative license. Dedicated to my beta, Shinnie the Meanie, who wanted a Kakei/Sena. Words cannot express my gratitude towards her, 3


	5. Is This Love

I own neither Is This Love? Bob Marley and the Wailers nor Eyeshield 21. Side note: This was not written as a prequel to Flora's Secret.

* * *

Sena stood on the dusty sun baked yard outside of the Deimon Clubhouse under the bright, beating sun.

Directly across from him, Juumonji was glaring at the ground.

"I want to know." He lineman started. "I want to know why every time you smile at me, my heart jumps. I want to know why I get stronger when I know I'm blocking for you. I want to know why I can't stop thinking about you!" Juumonji demanded.

Sena looked down at the ground. He thought of all the times his heart beat faster when the ex-delinquent was around. He thought of all the casual jokes he made with the other boy, when at the beginning of the year, he was nothing more than Juumonji, Kuroki, and Toganou's gofer.

"…Is this love?" Sena more asked himself, than offered Juumonji.

Juumonji's head snapped up.

"I know I can't stop thinking about you. I know I want to be with you all the time. Maybe… could this be love?" Sena asked quietly.

Juumonji eyes widened before smiling slightly. He could always to count one Sena to be the first to throw his cards on the table.

"I don't know." Juumonji said softly, focusing his quiet smile of Sena. "But I'm willing and able. I want to love you, though, if you'll let me."

Sena smiled happily and reached out his hand to Juumonji.

Juumonji stepped forward and took it.

* * *

Eh, I don't like this one as much as I like the others I've posed. It seems this one has less of the song in it, and more of the lyrics. Also, sorry for the late update, I thought I'd have more written, but then I started a new one in the middle of writing another one. (P.S. It looks like they're gonna be two Kaiser Chiefs songs. Sorry, I should have checked myself better, but I've got most of the second one written and I don't want to just discard it...)


	6. Lake Ponchartrain

I own neither Eyeshield 21 nor the song Lake Pontchartrain by Ludo. Nor do I own the lyrics used and slightly modified herein.

* * *

Riku lay sprawled out on his bed in the room that he and Kid were sharing during the world cup. He smirked to himself as his mind ran through all the details of his fool-proof plan.

"You know things will never go well when they start out too well."

Riku started slightly as a voice cut into his reverie. He sat up and pouted at his quarterback.

"But I don't get to spend time with Sena anymore! I want some personal time too! And I never get hugs from my cute little brother anymore! It's perfect; Sena always loved it when I told him stories. Besides, you and Tetsuma-san don't have to be here, you could plan routes in Tetsuma-san's room." Riku defended.

Kid smiled to himself and Tetsuma just looked on with blank eyes. "That's no good, if we go back there, Ikkyu-kun will just challenge Tetsuma again. Besides, this looks like it's going to be interesting." He tipped his hat forward and leaned back into his chair, the setting sun highlighting his form dramatically.

Riku rolled his eyes but perked up when he heard a timid knock at the door. "I got it!" He declared and all but sprinted the short distance.

"Come on in!" Riku dragged his 'little brother' in, and headed back to his bed.

Sena, polite boy that he was, sat opposite Riku on Kid's bed (after procuring permission from said quarterback). Tetsuma gave him a rather questioning look from the end which the little running back missed.

Riku frowned a little. He'd hoped Sena would sit next to him, but it wasn't an issue. This would work just as well.

"I'm a little excited; I haven't been able to just hang out with Riku for a long time. It feels a little silly now that we're in high school, but I missed your post-practice stories." Sena sighed a little wistfully.

Riku smiled a sly little smile. "Well this one's based on a true story." He lied though his teeth.

"I'll tell it like it happened, it was Ichiro-senpai and Jiro-senpai and me. We were heading out to scout a team that was pretty far away." He pitched his voice low, starting out slowly. "It took so long; we got off the train to get something for dinner. They both had crawfish; strictly chicken for me. The radio at the diner was playing a really weird advertisement, they were saying…

'Come down to Lake Pontchartrain. Rest your soul and feed your brain. That's where you will get to see/Everything the water can be.'"

Riku smiled to himself in the encroaching darkness as he told his ghost story. In order to maximize the creepy atmosphere, the only lamp on in the hotel was over on the table where Kid was sitting, bemused.

'_Kid didn't know what he was talking about.'_ Riku decided as he wrapped up his story, "And that's when I heard it, make no mistake - The voices were calling them from under the lake..."

Riku grinned smugly as he heard a muffled squeak of fear. 'Just wait a little longer, my cute little brother.'

"The crawfish were screaming, the waves danced in time. My friends went in deeper; the water, it climbed. I watched in terror; the lake opened wide, and horribly roaring, it pulled them inside. That's how it happened! Why would I lie? There were no bodies, I've got none to hide. I'm just a poor boy, lost his friends in the rain. Any more questions, just go and ask Lake Pontchartrain." Riku finished, closed his eyes, and opened his arms, awaiting a lap-full of scared Sena.

Minutes ticked by, and Riku cracked an eye open, wondering what was taking so long… Was he paralyzed in fear?

"I'll just go get the lights…" Kid stood up abruptly and hit the switch.

Riku's jaw dropped.

There, on the opposite bed, was Sena embedding himself into a rather puzzled Tetsuma, shaking in fear.

Riku fell off the bed and landed on his face.

"I did try to warn you." Kid chuckled.

* * *

A/N: Lol, slightly cracky this time 3. Haha. I love this song though, it makes me happy. I was absolutely overjoyed when I saw it live! I also want to aplolgize; I usually try to pick songs that are easily found online so everyone can listen to them, but I can't say no to 'Lake Pontchartrain' even if there are only live versions on YouTube.

I hope you enjoy, and please review!


	7. Na Na Na Na Naa

I own neither Eyeshield 21 nor the song Na Na Na Na Naa by Kaiser Chiefs nor 'Hanah Montana'

* * *

Sakuraba paced nervously in front of an impassively weight-lifting Shin. His fingers were restlessly playing with a couple tickets for a popular amusement park that Takami had told him was a popular place for couples on their first date.

Nervous excitement bubbled over, and Sakuraba couldn't help but express his doubts to the other athlete who probably wasn't listening anyway. "I bet he just accepted to be polite. I bet he doesn't even like me."

Shin, never one to listen to self-pity, cut in. "Sakuraba. You have a fanclub. Doesn't that usually indicate that more than one person is interested in your physical appearance and/or personality."

The idol flinched at the blunt force of Shin's words. "But… it's _Sena-kun_." He emphasized as though that excused his nerves.

"You're late."

"You don't understand, I mean, he's – wait, what?" Sakuraba looked at his friend blankly, not expecting him to ignore his protests. "No I'm not," He pulled out his cell to check the time. "I've got… I'M LATE!" He panicked and rushed to the showers despite him doing nothing more than pacing all though practice.

[]+[]+[]

Sena hummed along with his music player as he waited for Sakuraba-san. He wasn't as nervous as he thought he'd be after the idol had approached him and asked if he had any plans for this weekend. At least if they weren't interested in each other, they knew each other well enough for the date to be written off as 'hanging out time'.

Sena was a simple person. He'd always prefer hanging out to doing something fantastic on the first date; whether he were dating the girls who've started following him around, or the nationally-renown football ace and model, Sakuraba Haruto. He just hoped Sakuraba-san knew that.

As if summoned by Sena's musings, Sakuraba jogged up in the most 'incognito' clothes he owned, which wasn't saying much, especially since the clothing brand Sakuraba-san now modeled for stipulated in the contract that most of his leisure clothes had to be their brand.

Sena smiled wryly in amusement at all the attention the older Blond was getting by trying to detract attention. He raised a hand in greeting, before turning off and putting away his music player.

"Sorry I'm late! I just got out of practice!" Sakuraba blurted hurriedly, hoping desperately Sena wasn't mad.

"A-ah, I haven't been here long anyway," Sena lied. "Was there anything in particular you wanted to do today, Sakuraba-san?" He asked, ignoring the girls around him swooning upon confirmation of their idol's identity.

Said idol's eyes lit up. "Yeah, I got tickets already, so we just need to catch the train!"

Sena sweated a little, "Tickets where, Sakuraba-san?" He asked with a sinking feeling.

"It's a surprise!" Sakuraba smiled happily.

This would not end well at all.

[]+[]+[]

Sena stood outside the gates of the amusement park. Surely not…

"Isn't it great, Sena-kun? Takami told me about this place, he said-" He broke off with a blush, "He said it was a great place for a first date."

'_For a girl! This is the type of place you take a girl on the first date!_' Inner Sena cried. But, Sakuraba-san meant well, and he already had tickets. It wouldn't hurt him to try something new.

"Sounds fun, Sakuraba-san." Sena forced a smile.

[]+[]+[]

Despite Sena's misgivings, he let Sakuraba drag him to the biggest rollercoaster in the park. Sakuraba was slightly stooped, trying to make himself appear shorter, to avoid drawing attention to himself in the line.

Sena smiled indulgently, he knew his friend was still uncomfortable with his celebrity status. Eventually, they boarded the ride. Around them, a rather large group of girls seemed to have a club outing, or something, because there were girls wherever Sena looked, in front of them, behind them, three seats down from them, everywhere!

Sena repressed a shudder of fear even imagining the girls finding out he was out with their idol.

He really should stop thinking such pessimistic things.

True to Sena's luck, they'd just crested the highest loop, when the ride ground to a halt and Sakuraba lost his hat.

For being stuck upside-down on a roller coaster, the girls had been surprisingly calm. After his date lost his hat, however, Sena could have sworn his eardrums burst from their collective squeal of excitement. The technicians worked quickly to fix the mechanical mishap, but the damage had been done, and Sakuraba-san was swamped after they climbed out of their seats.

Sakuraba tried to fend off his fans, (who were growing increasingly demanding in trying to find out who he was there with), and looked around for his (he blushed, his fangirls cooed) date.

Sena seemed to be having his own problems. Not with fangirls, (though he had those too, but they were of the intensely shy variety). No, Sena was surrounded by what looked like hundreds of children. It made sense they'd admire him, he wasn't very big, but Sena routinely overcame much larger opponents. He was like their champion.

Despite the horrible turn his date had taken, Sakuraba felt his expression soften looking over at his crush, playing and chatting with the kids, effortlessly dividing his attention between each and every one of them.

Like the rest of the day, disaster struck. His fangirls saw Sakuraba smiling tenderly at Sena and put two and two together. They let out a long keen of fangirl anguish, and Sakuraba grabbed Sena and ran.

[]+[]+[]

After spending what seemed like hours avoiding hoards of fangirls, Sakuraba decided it was safe to try to romance his little running back again. He led them to a small café, tucked cozily just off the main path of the park.

Sakuraba, in an attempt to be suave, ordered for Sena.

Sena, in an attempt to be kind, choked down the hated black coffee.

And just like everything else, it was about to get a whole lot worse. The ever-present waitress kept giving Sena dark looks, and with an internal sigh, Sena tensed in his seat, and prayed it wouldn't be more coffee.

Sena's predictions could easily be as absolute as Yamato's at this point, and true to vindictive fangirl form, Sena found himself with a lapful of iced (thank God!) coffee.

"Ah! I'm soooo sorry~!" The girl smirked.

Hitting the first patch of good luck in what was becoming the longest day of Sena's life, the vindictive waitress' manager happened to catch the aftermath of the girl holding the tray, Sena's soaked pants, and Sakuraba flailing helplessly around them.

After refusing to let the manager scold the mischievous female, Sena did accept the voucher offered by him to go buy a new pair of pants in one of the park's gift shops, seeing as the creamy drink would spoil and completely ruin the garment if he didn't change quickly.

[]+[]+[]

"Really?" Sena muttered to himself, an eyebrow lifted in irony.

"What is it, Sena-kun?" Sakuraba looked up from his own browsing.

Sena smiled disarmingly. "Nothing Sakuraba-san." _'Except for the fact my size is completely gone unless I want to wear little-girl-princess themed pants.'_ He lamented internally.

"I'll just try these on." He grabbed the size next after his and marched off to the fitting rooms. The slim running back shuffled around a little, changing clothes, and frowned down at the pants loosely hanging off his hips in dismay.

He sighed deeply. These wouldn't do at all; maybe he missed a size on the racks. He reached over to grab his neatly-folded pants so he wouldn't have to make a fool of himself outside the fitting room.

He reached over to where he set them and came up empty.

"Sakraba-san? Have you seen my pants?"

"… Is that a trick question?"

Sena looked around the small room desperately, and his eyes landed on a small slip of paper he'd knocked to the floor in his scramble to find his pants.

'Dear Sena-sama,

Thank you for your pants.

Love, Love, Love,

Your loyal fangirls.'

Sena dropped his head into his hands.

"Sakuraba-san? Could you grab me a belt?"

"Ummm… I'm not sure you want me to…"

Sena sighed and stepped out of the fitting rooms, the pants low on his waist, and slipping down his hips.

Sakuraba's nose dripped blood.

"What's wrong with the belts?" Sena asked with a sigh.

"Well, I guess it's your choice." Sakuraba held up two belts with one hand, the other occupied with trying to stem the flow of blood.

Sena stared at the 'Hanah Montana' belt and pink glitter, faux-fur belt.

"…No."

[]+[]+[]

They spent the rest of their first date dodging fangirls and children, until they gave up and left the theme park for the neighborhood park.

Sena sat on the swings, dejectedly, after surreptitiously checking the overly-large pants.

"I'm sorry."

Sena looked up, startled. "For what, Sakuraba-san?"

"It was a pretty miserable first date, wasn't it." Sakuraba smiled, self-deprecatingly.

"Oh, Sakuraba-san." Sena smiled affectionately and stood up. "I'm a simple person; elaborate dates don't move me, they don't get me going at all." He tugged lightly on Sakuraba's tee-shirt to pull him down, and placed a chaste kiss on the taller boy's cheek.

"It does not shift me. It's not the kind of thing that I like. But I do like Sakuraba-san."

Sakuraba looked dazed. "Even though I failed so spectacularly today."

Sena let go of the receiver's shirt and hugged him. "Even though."

* * *

A/N: I broke my own word limit... :'( Thanks to Mithras151 of beta'ing and pretty much holding my hand through it.


	8. I Don't Wanna Fall in Love

I own neither Eyeshield 21 nor 'I Don't Wanna Fall in Love' by She Wants Revenge

* * *

Sena dropped his last book and page of homework into his school bag with a relieved sigh and reached over to finally boot up the family computer. It was hard to wait until 8:30 every night to video chat with his friend, but he knew that even at this time of night it was a stretch for Panther-kun to be awake.

Panther-kun had to get up early for practice, however, but he was the type of person that would get up, but not wake up. So he'd chat with Sena in the mornings to help him wake up. The constant attention he had to pay to the conversation helped him stay alert. Or so he said.

Lately, they'd started a new project to help Panther warm up before practice, and to help Sena out in an area where he'd always been a little insecure.

Sena logged on, and smiled to himself when he saw Panther was on. He quickly accepted the video chat link Panther-kun sent him.

"Hey Panther-kun!" Sena called with a cheerful grin.

"Hey Sena." Panther answered, with a rather groggy smile, clearly still half-asleep. "You ready?"

Sena smiled indulgently. "You haven't sent me the music link yet!"

"Oh, that's right…" Panther messed with the files for a little bit, then looked back to the web cam. "There, sent!" He announced triumphantly.

Sena clicked the link, and smiled as the beats filled the room.

_I would like to tell you/I would like to say/that I knew that this would happen/that things would go this way._

"Ready, Panther-kun?" Sena chirped, and all but leapt out of his chair.

Panther smiled, almost against his will, at Sena's enthusiasm. "Alright, do you remember where we started last time? Relax, keep everything loose."

"Yes Panther-kun!" Sena agreed, with his face scrunched up in a look of intense concentration that looked adorable.

Panther smiled to himself and stood up. "Alright, Sena, move your feet like this," He demonstrated, moving fluidly with the beat.

Sena watched intently before mimicking everything he saw with grace and enthusiasm.

While Sena practiced the new moves his friend had showed him, Panther pulled off his sleep shirt and grabbed a clean undershirt to start getting ready for morning football practice.

Sena looked away from the web cam with a vivid blush. He knew that Panther-kun only had a limited amount of time and insisted on chatting with him as long as possible, but Sena was always a little embarrassed at seeing Panther's lean torso stretch and twist as he changed shirts. It seemed like Panther-kun was the only one who had no problems with modesty too. It was a set routine by now: as soon as Panther-kun changed his shirt, Sena would whirl around quickly. It was one thing for him to study the hard muscle and flat planes of his friend's torso, it was quite another for him to stand slack jawed and glassy eyed at the sight of his friend taking his pants off. But in retrospect, with legs like that, Sena wasn't surprised that Panther was able to break the light speed barrier.

Snapping himself from his stupor, and surreptitiously checking for drool, Sena broke the radio silence that had fallen between them in an attempt to distract himself from his own private strip show behind him.

"Shin-san caught me dancing the other day."

"WHAT?!" Panther yelped.

Sena turned back to the computer in surprise. "Yeah, I was jogging and got carried away by Cantaloop/Flip Fantasia. It was kinda funny…" Sena trailed off with wide eyes. Before him, Panther-kun was leaning on his desk with his pants still only half on.

"No way! That's so funny! What did Shin do? I can't even imagine! What did you tell him?" The taller running back laughed.

"I told him I was bracing myself for when the beat hits me… he seemed really confused." Sena admitted sheepishly as Panther struggled to contain his laughter.

Sena watched his friend's wide grin with a small smile of his own. Panther-kun's big grin looked so child-like and cute!

Sena's eyes opened wide in shock. What was that?! His face burned in embarrassment.

"Sena, you stiffened up again…" Panther grinned smugly.

Sena choked.

"U-Um… so, then I move like this?" Sena tried to change the topic and rolled his hips sensuously.

"Y-yeah." Panther agreed, and pulled up his pants Quickly. "S-So, Sena, what do you think about Shin-san?"

"I like him a lot!" Sena chirped, and put an extra flourish in his steps.

"Love him?"

"What!?" Sena blurted out, shocked.

"What do you think about love, I guess…" Panther looked away under the pretence of finding a belt.

"Love is not an option, in my opinion." Sena sighed thoughtfully, ending his dancing and sitting down. "It's just, not a good time with football. But why would you ask if I were going out with Shin-san?" He asked, hoping his friend hadn't caught Sena checking him out.

Sena was serious though, it was one think to admire his friend, it was another entirely to establish a relationship in combination with football and school.

"Well, you do talk about him all the time. And you do say you like him." Panther followed Sena's precedent and sat down, wanting to know more about Sena's love life, or lack thereof.

"We… well, I like Panther-kun a lot too." Sena looked away shyly.

"Really!?" Panther sat forward, excitedly.

"Yeah," Sena grinned. "It's great to have not only one, but two amazing rivals!"

Panther fell off his chair.

* * *

Perviest thing I've written to date.


	9. Cowbell

I own neither Eyshield 21 nor the song Cowbell by Tapes n' Tapes

* * *

"Would you just leave me alone, Suzuna?!" Sena finally demanded. The girl had been following him around, bothering him all day.

"Just admit it, Sena, and I'll leave you alone~!" She chirped, pleased that he seemed to be cracking under the pressure of constant surveillance.

"I refuse!" Sena covered his ears with his hands childishly, and bolted for the clubhouse. "Go away! Do you even go to school anymore?" He shouted over his shoulder.

"I'm not stupid like my brother, I can play for however long it takes to get you to admit it!" She labored to keep pace beside him.

Finally, salvation was within sight. Never had the flashy façade of the Deimon clubhouse looked more enticing. Sena sped up and rushed inside, attempting to slam the door shut behind him.

"That wasn't very nice, Sena." Suzuna's voice dripped with honeyed venom.

Sena looked around wildly, looking for a place to hide. He dived into the changing room.

"Sena, Sena, Sena. Do you want to live a lie? C'mon, you can live such a full, rich life if you just repeat after me. 'I like boys'." She skated leisurely though the locker room, ignoring the three brother's protests and half-naked status.

She'd just passed the second row when the door slammed shut. She grinned. Perfect, only You-nii was out in the main room. She zipped past the brothers again and threw open the door.

"Come out, come out, wherever you are!" She sing-songed.

"You're getting as annoying as that fucking gotee." Hiruma complained without looking up from his laptop as he reclined at the table.

Suzuna started to pout over being compared to her idiot brother, but then caught sight of the tuft of brown hair from behind Hiruma.

"Sena~! Say it! Put your masculine pride on the line and say 'I like pretty boys!'" She leaned over and tugged on the tuft.

Sena yelped, and crawled backwards, away from the manic cheerleader. "I DO NOT! Why do you keep saying that!"

"Really, Sena, you're such an uke." She grinned, leaning across the table.

"A… What?" He asked shakily.

"You're adorable, short, passive, pacifistic, androgynous, and you get surprised way too easily!" She said with a look that reminded Sena of Pitt when the neighbor's bird had gone missing under mysterious circumstances.

"Plus, you're always obsessed with Shin-san!" She finished.

"Now wait just a minute – " Sena started, genuinely upset with her slander of their pure rivalry. Or he would have been if Hiruma-san hadn't pulled Sena to him and kissed him deeply.

"Wha…?" Sena started when Hiruma pulled back, only to have his lips captured by the blond devil again.

Hiruma finally pulled back, leaving Sena in a dazed shock. Sena lifted his hand to touch his lips.

"She's right, you're an uke." Hiruma said with a wolfish grin.

* * *

Still dedicated to my betas, specifically Mithras this time, for helping me with diction and the uke list.


	10. Invincible

I own neither Eyeshield 21 nor the song 'Invincible' by Muse. Nor the lyrics incorporated into the character's speech at the ending. (WARNING: Hasn't been Beta'd)

* * *

Sena lay on a hill behind Deimon and looked up at the stars. It was late; practice had been over for hours, but he just couldn't find the motivation to get up and go home. He stared at the sky, struggling to keep his mind blank.

"Hey."

Sena jumped and looked over to who was addressing him.

"Hey, Monta." He greeted with a quiet smile.

"What are you doing out here? It's getting cold." Monta asked, but took a seat next to Sena's sprawled form never the less.

"Just got distracted by the stars. They're really beautiful tonight." Sena lied.

"Is this about the third years?"

'_Monta always could see though me.'_ Sena thought, his smile turning wry.

"No." He tried again.

"Stop lying to me, Sena." Monta frowned down at him.

"… Maybe." Sena turned away from his best friend and lay on his side instead.

Monta's frown became more frustrated. He let the silence stretch between them, until it seemed brittle; like it would crumble at any moment.

"We don't even have a team without them; we're just a bunch of brats messing around. We're useless without our seniors." Sena spoke quietly.

Monta whacked him across the back of the head.

"Wh-what the hell, Monta!?" Sena shot up like a frightened cat, staring at his friend with a sort of incredulous shock. He rubbed the back of his head unconsciously. "You know it's true! We don't even have a leader!"

"You're the leader!" Monta shouted back.

Monta stood up suddenly and stared out at the school. "Idiot." He mumbled; his voice thick.

"Hiruma-san wouldn't have named you team captain if he thought you were useless. Besides, stop acting like you're all alone. You have Komusubi, Juumonji, Kuroki, and Toganou looking out for you on the line. You have Taki doing whatever you could possibly want as cornerback. You've got a HOARD of first years that can't wait to play with us. You've got me, Sena."

Sena sat up and hugged his legs to his chest. He looked away, ashamed. "Then why does it seem so hopeless without our founders?"

"Sena, listen to me. We can make our dreams come true. Don't give up the fight, we'll be alright." Monta smiled a little in the darkness. "I, of all people know how hard it can be to seem to have no results when doing something you love, but you should make a stand; stand up for what you believe."

Sena looked up at his friend in surprise and a little awe at how serious he was.

Monta continued; the only hint that he knew he knew he had his friend's rapt attention was the slight blush feathering his cheeks. "During the struggle, they will try to pull us down. But please, please, let's use this chance to turn things around. Let's keep the Devil Bats strong and leave a team our underclassmen can be proud of."

"Monta…" Sena started.

Monta ignored him and soldiered on. "And tonight, we can truly say: together we're invincible." He finished, eyes shining with repressed tears in the moonlight.

"Well, I guess he beat us to it."

"Juumonji?" Sena stood up, hastily wiping his eyes.

The new Deimon second years climbed the hill to be with their receiver and quarterback.

"But he's right; together we're invincible." Kuroki finished, looking away.

Komusubi patted Sena's arm. "US!" (Meaning, of course, _'As long as all of us are together, we cannot be beaten!'_)

"You guys…" Sena's eyes welled up again as Monta took his place with his teammates.

Giving up on words, Sena launched himself at his team with a watery grin, hugging everyone. "Tonight, we can truly say: together we're invincible." He agreed.

"You're such a wuss." Toganou insulted with his own teary, fond smile as the whole team hugged their captain back.

* * *

A/N: Monta/Sena if you squint really, really hard. Mostly this was about Sena feeling down if Hiruma didn't exert his powers to stay on the team. So, Hiuma, Kurita, Musashi, Ishimaru, and Mamori couldn't help, and Sena would be the team captain and quarterback. I think it'd be a really bittersweet time for Deimon's former first years. So mostly this is a fic about their bond they share… Please review!


	11. A Praise Chorus

I own neither Eyeshield 21 nor 'A Praise Chorus' by Jimmy Eat World.

* * *

Sena decided long ago that he'd no longer live his life wondering; standing in the back; looking around.

He decided the day after the spring tournament his freshman year, when he cried; worried sick that he wouldn't be able to play anymore.

He decided when he ran the death march to the last millimeter with his teammates in the sweltering heat of the Southwestern United States.

He decided the day he took off his eye shield in front of a stadium filled with people.

Kobayakawa Sena was no longer afraid. He would always try for what he loved. Always.

"Shin-san, please go out with me!"

* * *

A/N: Shortest drabble yet. Side note: I miss my betas :'(


	12. Rains on Me

I own neither Eyeshield 21 nor the song 'Rains on Me', by Tom Waits.

* * *

Sena sighed to himself as he stood under the store awning. It had been raining off and on all week, and he was getting cabin fever. Even in practice all they were doing was weight training! He just really wanted to get out and run.

It was odd that in so short a time running had become so integrated into his daily life. Integrated enough that the moment he saw a break in the clouds, he was out the door running around puddles.

Of course he knew better, he'd seen the weather forecast last night, and he saw the clouds still darkening the sky, but he really just wanted to run!

He sighed again. Why did it seem like everywhere he went, it rained on him?

"Eyeshield. Are you ill?"

Sena jumped. "Sh-Shin-san?" He asked as he looked around for the source of the voice. He was filled with jittery energy, his fight-or-flight reaction screaming at him to _'Screw the rain, it's a ghost! GHOST! Kya~aaaa! Run, fool!'_

Shin gravely stepped out of the shadows thrown by a postcard rack advertising cute anime animals and busty anime characters. Sena's mind broke a little at the juxtaposition.

"A-Ah, Shin-san, I didn't see you there." Sena greeted, with knees still wobbly when he thought about the disjointed voice calling out of the darkness.

"It seems the rain caught us both by surprise." Shin looked disappointed in himself. "I will have to start asking Sakuraba the weather forecast in the mornings."

Sena smiled a little at his rival's ongoing struggle with technology. "I knew better, but I still really just wanted to run." He smiled wistfully out at the wind and water swept street.

Shin studied him intently. And studied him. And studied him.

"Sh-Shin-san?" Sena questioned, finally unable to pretend he didn't notice.

"The rain does not look like it will recede anytime soon. No matter if we wait five more minutes or thirty more minutes, it will rain on us. Let us go." He looked at the younger boy out of the corner of his eyes.

Sena looked stunned for a minute, and then smiled brilliantly. He liked that much more, 'rain on us'. Much better than rain on me.

"Let's go, Shin-san!" Sena dashed out into the rain, ready to get soaked with his friend/rival.

Shin caught up effortlessly, just as Sena expected, but it seemed like he was much less wet. _'That's no good.'_ Sena thought with a frown. He glanced ahead, though visibility was low in the rain, and smiled to himself.

Shin looked at his rival in curiosity as the boy broke stride and took a running jump. Just what was Eyeshield up to…?

He froze in shock. Kobayakawa had just jumped in the largest puddle in the middle of the street, showing Shin in water.

He looked at the other boy, completely confused. Did he anger Kobayakawa in some way?

"Eyeshield?" He asked uncertainly.

Sena looked up with big, laughing eyes. "Tag, Shin-san, you're it."

Sena took off down the street, missing Shin's small smile and, more importantly, burning determination.


	13. Satisfaction

I own neither Eyeshield 21 nor the song Satisfaction by Benny Benassi.

* * *

Mamori had many things she was good at: she was rather handy with a sewing needle (She'd fixed Monta-kun's pants, after all), and she had amazing organizational skills (since Sena was playing and couldn't be secretary). Mamori also had a few things she wasn't so good at. Computer skills were one of them. And knowing that the world was growing more advanced ever so quickly, this was a major concern in her life. She had briefly considered taking a class or something… Either way, the other thing she wasn't so good at was dancing… this wasn't much of a concern, not like the computer one, because it didn't come up a lot in daily life.

She'd been making her rounds around the school after classes for the disciplinary committee, when she heard an intoxicating beat. It was one of the few days the football club didn't need a manager, and Mamori knew she should take her turn on patrol for the other club she'd been neglecting. That didn't stop her feet from wandering down to the club house.

It was closed up; of course, all the boys should be out on the field. But, even closed, the music seemed to be coming from inside. Well, if the music was so loud that she could hear it as she was walking by; it was her responsibility to look into it as a member of the disciplinary committee. Not that she was nosey at all. Nope. Just doing her job.

Deciding stealth would be the best approach to catch potential miscreants, she crept up to the windows. Unfortunately, ever since the most recent remodeling, the windows were much higher up. Fortunately, as manager, she knew exactly where Hiruma-kun's suspicious – but stackable! – crates were. She climbed up and peeked over the edge of the window, hoping to catch a head count. She needed to know whether or not she'd have to use her trusty mop.

She then proceeded to fall off her perch.

**Push me; and then just touch me, 'till I can get my/satisfaction.**

For a moment she lay sprawled out on brittle grass, one hand clutched to her chest, the other still behind her in a futile attempt to break her fall. She sat frozen in time, the music flowing around her; diverging around the obstruction and flowing together again once it had passed her.

Had she…? No, it couldn't have been! Surely not! She alternately felt a cold, then a hot chill run down her spine in even the contemplation of what she'd seen. Her hands were cold and sweaty, her mind racing. But she had to look again. It was vital. It wasn't like she wanted to see more, she was just doing her duty as a member of the disciplinary committee.

She swayed as she rose to her feet. The shock seemed like a physical blow, and continued to drain her. She carefully climbed the stacked crates and, ever so cautiously, glanced in the window again.

The scene that confronted her hadn't changed much; the lights were still dim, with multicolored phantoms capering wickedly. She knew it was just her mind giving the lights of the casino games sinister meanings, but at this moment, anything was possible.

The deadpan voices continued talking over the hypnotrance so often found in night clubs, and Mamori watched her childhood friend/younger brother undulate alluringly with a taller figure, still shrouded in the teasing shadows.

**Push me; and then just touch me, 'till I can get my/satisfaction.**

Sena rubbed himself shamelessly against the taller figure, his eyes were shut, his head thrown back in an almost ecstasy as he moved with the music. The mystery ... _person_… ('_It could be a woman_!' Her mind screamed, '_It could be a very tall woman_') wasn't moving as fluidly as Sena was. The person was moving a little mechanically, as though they were unused to even the basic idea of dancing. Sena had to coax his partner though each step, through every twist, every jerk, every tortuously fluid spasm.

Mamori couldn't tear her eyes off of the beguiling couple below her in the club house. When had Sena, her sweet, shy Sena, learned to move like this? More importantly, why would he feel the need to dance like this? No, no, the most important question… Who was he dancing with! Was it Hiruma-kun? Indeed, this was right up that amoral captain's alley, corrupting the innocent and leading her tender Sena astray!

A loud pop next to her ear almost caused her to be unseated once more. She turned as quickly as she could, given her precarious position, towards the invader.

"Where did the Fucking-Chibi learn to dance like _that_?" The quarterback questioned in a voice that sounded little breathless.

"What are you talking about, corrupter!?" Mamori demanded, but unconsciously kept her voice low enough to avoid alerting the dancers to their presence. "You obviously bullied Sena into this!"

Hiruma gave a hoarse little laugh. "I _wish_ I could dance like that," He blatantly ogled the running back. Without turning from the pair, he reached behind him and grabbed his state-of-the-art digital camera.

"Hiruma-kun!" Mamori protested while tugging at the arm holding the camera. "They'll see us if you use the flash, and if you don't, the pictures won't turn out."

Hiruma drug his eyes from the couple and cocked an eyebrow. "So, if they don't see us, it's fine?" He smiled cunningly.

Mamori bit her lip in indecision. "Hiruma-kun. Who else wasn't at practice? Who else did you come back to find?"

Hiruma turned away with a sour face. "You don't want to know." He lined up his shots, and took them quickly, one after another in quick, staccato bursts of camera clicks.

"Hiruma-kun…" Mamori started beseechingly.

She froze in place as she heard a low moan. She looked down to her little brother who'd stopped moving entirely, and was leaning against the taller figure. The taller figure chuckled and wrapped his ('_Her!_' Her mind screamed, '_It could be a woman with a deep voice!_') arms around Sena, and leaned down, whispering something in her little brother's ear directly. Sena blushed violently and straitened up from leaning on the person.

"That's good enough, Hiruma-san will probably be wondering where we are." Sena moved away as abruptly as the song ended. "I am sorry about leaning on you," He flipped the light switch, "Yukimitsu-san."

They both looked up in alarm at the sound of a thump from outside, and more importantly, hysterically manic laughter from the window.

**A/N: I could give y'all a bunch of half-assed excuses about my car dying, my laptop charger breaking, and about using the family PC that's slow as hell, or I could give y'all an…**

OMAKE!!

"Sena-kun, are you sure this is how we're supposed to dance? It seems a little… intimate." Yukimitsu asked nervously.

"But," Sena worried his lip between his teeth, "This is the way Panther-kun's been teaching me how to dance at night… Maybe it's because Americans are so affectionate; I read that somewhere." Sena shrugged.

"You shouldn't believe everything you read," Yukimitsu smiled affectionately at the younger boy setting up the music his instructor had sent the previous night. "Isn't this too much though, learning to dance, practice, and teaching me? I'm sorry for being such an imposition."

"I'm happy you came to me for help," Sena smiled, "But I might fall asleep on my feet," He joked, "So it's your job to catch me!" He laughed outright.

"Deal, Sena-kun!" Yukimitsu laughed along, as the music started.

**A/N: And incase that blinding display of devious distraction didn't work…**

OMAKE #2!!

"Fucking-Manager. Are you alive down there?" Hiruma asked from his seat on top of the crates, swinging his long legs carelessly.

"Sena… Yukimitsu-san… Dancing…" She strung words together, hoping to form a sentence. There went her dreams of being surrounded by dozens of little nieces and nephews.

"…Wanna form a club?" Hiruma quietly questioned, browsing though the pictures he'd taken.

Mamori thought about the sinful thrill she had gotten watching her little brother writhe and grind his hips into the taller boy. She thought about how just moments ago she'd been thinking about how her dancing was inadequate. She thought of how much she could learn between Sena and Yukimitsu-san. "…Yes."


	14. Big in Japan

I own neither Eyeshield 21 nor the song Big in Japan by Tom Waits

A/N: First time playing with first person POV, and it's pun tiem now~

* * *

I guess the only reason I really noticed him to begin with was because of our size differences. Usually I don't care about anyone unless they could possibly present a direct challenge to me. This kid, however, was _tiny_. I remember looking at him, and, at first, I was a little indignant. How dare that little kid come out on my field and challenge me on my ground, when I could snap him like a twig and we both knew it?

But then the kid faced me down. Not once, but twice. For a guy that admires strength over all else, that says a lot. Between Kurita, that tricky quarter back, and him, I can see how Deimon beat us.

The Christmas bowl is coming up soon, and that tricky quarter back Hiruma called us all in as personal coaches. I spend most of my time training with Kurita, but when I get the chance, I just watch Sena and Shin on their square track. It's amazing, like he has his own brand of strength. It's ridiculous, but I love just watching him. Sena's just a rolled up ball of paradox; he's tough enough to face me down twice, yet he trembles whenever he catches me watching him. It's almost… endearing.

I'm not the only one watching him, mind. His personal coach couldn't tear his eyes off the boy, neither could the Kakei kid training the other lineman, Juumonji, and even that red-headed guitar-playing Akaba-kid's eyes would glint though his matching sunglasses.

Whatever. They can watch all they want. They should know that only I, Gaou, am the best match for Sena. We're perfect opposites, and opposites attract, right? I've got the strength, he's got the speed, I've got the style, he's got the grace.

I'm big in Japan, and he, in his own way, stands just as tall.

* * *

A/N: Para que sepan... Big in Japan by Tom Waits R0x0Rz. Yeah. Sorry about the wait, but expect a fic dump soon... I worked quite a bit over my spring break. Not as much as I would have liked but, eh.


	15. Umbrella

I own neither Eyeshield 21 nor the song Umbrella originally preformed by Rihanna. The version I listened to; however, was Mandy Moore's cover of this version which is slower and more… delicate?

* * *

Takami smiled and hummed a little to himself. He was on his way back from the store, and between the bag and his umbrella, his hands were rather full. He knew that most people were depressed by the week-long rain (with more in the forecast) but really it was nothing but good news to him. They were doing strength training in the gym, so he didn't have to highlight how slow he was; and with Shin lifting weights, Sakuraba was spending more time trying to catch Takami's passes than trying to race Shin.

Plus, even if the rain cleared up soon, he could schedule a practice game with Deimon and spend more time with cute little Sena-kun! Takami wasn't sure when he had stopped looking at Sena-kun as a threat to Oujo, and started had looking at him as absolutely adorable, but it was probably around the time Shin did.

But Takami wasn't too worried about Shin. After all, the boy seemed to be emotionally stunted, and as harsh as that seemed, all was fair in love and war. And this was both

Takami had been planning for weeks how to get the younger running back to look away from his rival, and towards his rival's team captain. First things first; however, he had to find a way to see the boy. So a practice game would be perfect, since no one ever saw Sena-kun outside of games.

'Except,' a distant part of Takami's mind noted, 'For Shin, jogging with him in the pouring rain.'

To say that Takami was shocked would have been an understatement. He stared dumbly at the two figures passing him.

"Shin! Sena-kun!"

Takami looked around in confusion. Who had called out to them? As he looked around, he noticed something odd… other than the jogging duo; he was alone on the street. The quarterback froze in shock. '_Was… Was that me?_" He wondered shakily, mortified.

'_No! No! Don't turn around Sena-kun! For once in your life, ignore someone!_' But Takami knew it was useless; Sena-kun was too kind to ever pretend he hadn't heard his name being called, even if he was engrossed in a game of… puddle tag?

"Ah! Takami-san! How are you today?" Sena called back with a cheerful grin. He trotted back to Oujo's quarterback amiably, perfectly willing to suspend his fun with Shin to just talk with his rival team's captain.

"Look at you! You're soaked! You're going to catch your death!" Takami scolded, and then froze again. What was it about this boy that made him blurt out whatever was on his mind at the time? Even if Sena-kun looked like here were as delicate as a kitten, he didn't need someone to mother him.

And true to both Takami's inner and outer scolding, Sena-kun wilted in shame. Shin trotted up behind the boy, abandoning his previous position on the road where he'd been waiting for his rival to come back and jog with him.

"Kobayakawa and I were delayed by the sudden cloudburst. When the weather did not clear up, we continued our run anyway."

If Takami didn't know Shin better, he'd say the boy was sullen about his captain interrupting his alone time with Sena.

"Be that as it may, it's no good if you get sick." Takami's words sounded firm, but his affectionate smile directed at a shame-faced Sena belied the words' inherent harshness. "Well, I guess there's no helping it, come on." He extended his umbrella over Sena and continued walking, trusting the boys to follow.

"Um… Takami-san? Where are we going?" Sena looked up, his eyes as confused as his words.

'_So cute, so cute, so cuuuuuute_!' Takami cheered internally. He cleared his throat. "Both you and Shin are soaked to the bone; we're going to my apartment to dry off. If either of you had checked the forecast before you'd left, you would know the rain won't be clearing up until early tomorrow morning."

Sena smiled at the quarter back. "Takami-senpai is so kind."

Takami smiled a calculating – but genuinely happy – smile down to the other boy.

"But why does Shin-san have to walk in the rain?" Sena innocently shattered their shared moment. Takami paused and looked behind him to the linebacker following them sulkily.

"It's his punishment," Takami lied easily, "For dragging you out in the rain."

[]+[]+[]+[]

"Here you are." Takami dropped a towel on Sena's head playfully. "And hear you go." Takami threw a bunched-up towel at Shin's face with quarterback strength and accuracy. "I set some clothes out on the bed for you in there, Sena-kun," Takami smiled, while ignoring Shin catching the towel, "So go ahead and change. When you're done, bring me your clothes and I'll dry them."

Takami maintained his 'polite' smile for as long as it took for Sena to close the door to the bedroom before dropping down into the chair directly across from Shin.

"What was that?" The quarterback demanded.

"Kobayakawa and I wanted to run." Shin obstinately refused to admit to wrong-doing, and met Takami's glare head-on.

"I like him." Takami challenged.

"So do I." Shin returned.

"Um…" Sena stood in the doorway uncertainly, absolutely adorable in Takami's too-large clothing. "I really am sorry!" He exclaimed and bowed lowly.

Takami stood up, startled. "Why, Sena-kun? Why are you apologizing? You've done nothing wrong."

"I-It's my fault; I got Shin-san soaked when I splashed him." Sena looked down in shame.

"Sena-kun," Takami smiled in exasperated affection. "That's not it at all, please don't worry yourself."

"Bu-but, Takami-san and Shin-san were so serious, and their auras were crackling…" Sena sniffled.

"Kobayakawa. Don't feel bad." Shin instructed from his chair.

"Ah. Right." Sena resolutely wiped at his eyes. "Sorry, Shin-san."

Takami looked between the two incredulously. Really? That worked? "Actually, Sena-kun, we were just talking about how we never get to see you outside of games anymore. You should come visit us at school, we'll show you around." Takami's smile was one perverted thought shy of a smirk.

"You should train with me more often, Kobayakawa." The linebacker attempted to one-up his upperclassman.

Takami spoke over Shin, as if he couldn't be bothered to listen to the other boy. "You should train with all of us, Sena-kun."

"Is that alright?" Sena looked up in wonder, "I'm from a rival team, after all." Sena reminded him, pointing to himself for emphasis, hand almost completely obscured by the too-long long-sleeved shirt.

"If it's Sena-kun – " Takami was cut off by his (now hated) doorbell.

"The doorbell rang." Shin supplied helpfully. Takami glared.

"I'll be right back, Sena-kun," Takami purred, and stood to find out just who would visit this late at night and destroy his attempts at one-upping Shin. Takami was so irritated that he didn't even think to check who was outside, but simply swung open the door with at rather curt, "What?"

A large, pink bubble exploded in his face, and he took a step back involuntarily. "Hiruma-kun?" He questioned, confused.

The demonic quarterback grinned at the way he so effortlessly kept his rival off-balance. "I'm here to pick up my shrimp. You hear that shrimp!?" He called over Takami's shoulder.

"Yes, Hiruma-san!" Came the comparatively quieter call from within the apartment.

"Wh-what the hell? How did you even know he was here?" Takami questioned, pushing his glasses back up the bridge of his nose in agitation.

"I always know where my fucking-chibi is." Hiruma answered with a grin too full of teeth to be called a smile.

Sena chose that moment to appear. "Hiruma-san, I don't have my clothes." He looked up to his team captain with wide, soulful brown eyes, like a kicked puppy.

"Not to worry, I'm sure one of your stalkers will drop them off tomorrow." Hiruma assured him disinterestedly.

"My stalkers, Hiruma-san?" Sena's knees trembled a little.

Takami swooped in. "Don't listen to him, Sena-kun," He comforted with his kindest smile, "What that guy meant, is that I'd be happy to drop them off tomorrow. We were just talking about how we didn't spend enough time together, right?"

"Takami means I will drop them off, Kobayakawa." Shin argued, appearing from the depths of Takami's living room.

Takami and Shin glared at each other.

Hiruma leaned down to whisper in Sena's ear. "Let's go, while they're too busy cock-blocking each other to notice."

"H-Hiruma-kun!" Sena yelped at his proximity, the course language, and his own embarrassment for having no idea what that meant.

"Wait!" Takami called after the blond dragging Sena away. He grabbed his spare umbrella from the closet and followed them out into the hall. He offered it to Sena, "Always remember, you can stand under my umbrella, alright?"

"Is this ok?" Sena asked, "Don't you need it, it's supposed to rain all week…"

"It's a spare, don't worry." Takami reassured, "Besides this way, I'll pick it up when I drop off your clothes. It's like a date." Takami's smile turned a little predatory.

"You mean when I drop them off." Shin called from the doorway.

Takami turned to argue with Shin, and missed an irritated Hiruma dragging a blushing Sena away, hand-in-hand.

* * *


	16. Amerika

I own neither Eyeshield 21 nor the song 'Amerika' by Rammstein.

Pre-story A/N: The 'logic' behind this is that in the song 'Amerika' by Rammstein, there are a lot of random cultural references associated with America, so I thought it'd be entertaining to play with preconceptions of Americans while the Japanese team is visiting for the world cup. Slight AU.

* * *

Sena exited the plane with a large-ish duffle bag and an even larger yawn. The flight from Japan to New York had been 14 hours of pure, undiluted boredom. Well, maybe diluted a little by _sheer terror_ when Sena found out Hiruma had found a way to smuggle a _gun_ on board, but other than that, it had been relatively quiet.

As boring as the flight was, and as tired as Sena was from the jet-lag, he couldn't help but feel a little excited. During Sena's dancing lessons with Panther-kun, Sena had mentioned the airport that they had flown into, and it turned out that Panther-kun lived really close! A couple days ago, Sena's rival running back had asked for the flight information in order to greet him at the arrival gate. Once Sena passed through security and customs, he'd be able to see Panther-kun again!

Sena's face retained a goofy smile through the long lines and surly workers, not even dropping when he was selected for an extra search.

"What's got you so cheerful, Sena?" Monta asked, coming up behind his best friend and laying a hand on his shoulder while Sena repacked his suitcase which had been ransacked by the employees.

Sena leaned his head back and the grin that he'd barely managed to restrain floated back to the surface. "Panther-kun's gonna meet us at the arrival gate!" He chirped in sheer delight.

"That's great! We haven't seen him for a while, have we?" Monta rubbed the underside of his nose with a finger, whilst looking away to try to hide his affectionate smile.

"It's gonna be great! He's gonna show us all the sights of New York!" Sena enthused, "Like the Empire State building, and Central Park, and Rockefeller Center, and-"

"I get it, already!" Monta laughed. They rounded the corner and finally cleared the security checkpoints.

"Sena!"

At the bottom of the stairs, Panther was bouncing on his heels, waiting impatiently for his diminutive rival.

Sena laughed and bolted down the stairs ahead of his team. "Panther-kun!" He stopped just short of said boy and bowed politely, "It's been so long!"

Panther swept him up into an enormous hug. "Sena! You know you don't need to be so formal," He ruffled Sena's already messy hair, "It's the American way!" He grinned.

Sena laughed and extracted himself from his friend's grip as his teammates came up behind him with various looks of bewilderment. "You already know Hiruma-san, Monta, Kurita-san, Sakuraba-san, Takami-san, Oowatri-san and Shin-san, but everyone else is new to you, I think." Sena started the introductions, indicating each person as he said their name, "…And this is Yamato-san; he was the original Eyeshield 21!" Sena concluded with a small, prideful smile for not having once stumbled over anyone's name in nervousness.

He aimed his pleased smile at Panther, waiting for a reaction to the coveted "Eyeshield" title at least, only to be caught off guard by what seemed to be a three-way stare-down between Panther, Shin, and Yamato. "Panther-kun?" Sena questioned.

Tearing his eyes away from the other players reluctantly, Panther grinned hugely at Sena. "Come on! There's so much to see!" He declared and grabbed Sena's hand to lead him away.

"P-Panther-kun?" Sena's face was flooded with red at the casually intimate gesture. "Wh-What are you doing? We still need to claim our baggage and check into our hotel!" He protested.

They both paused when they heard a familiar evil chuckle behind them. In unison, their heads swung around to see what the demonic quarter back had found so amusing. Hiruma's diabolical smile sent shivers down their spines.

"Go, go, fucking Shrimp." Hiruma urged with an unholy grin. "Fucking Fatass will take your bags and check you in, right Fatass?" Hiruma demanded/asked smoothly.

"I don't mind at all!" Kurita smiled brightly in high contrast to his oldest football teammate's Satanic aura.

"A-ah, but-" Sena hesitated.

"Don't you want to spend time with me, Sena?" Panther feigned sadness and took the opportunity to wind an arm around Sena's shoulders.

The killing intent in the airport spiked.

"It seems unwise for Kobayakawa to wander around a foreign city, even with a native-speaking guide. I will join you, if Ootawari would consent to taking my bag and checking me in, in a similar way as Kobayakawa's teammate." Shin droned flatly, but not without a challenge in his eyes for the American running back.

"BAHAHA!" Ootawari laughed loudly, "If Shin wants to go sight-seeing, I'm more than strong enough to carry his bag, mine, AND the little guy's!" He bragged in a loud voice.

"Oh, you're taking all our bags?" Yamato deliberately misinterpreted, "Here, I'd like to sight-see before we meet at the Statue of Liberty too!" He dumped his carry-on bag on Ootawari.

Panther's grin drooped a little, before becoming more challenging. "Alright, let's go!" He cheered and, dropping his arm to hold Sena's hand again, bolted. "Keep up if you can!" He taunted.

[]o[]O[]o[]

"Say, 'ah!' Sena!" Panther cooed.

Sena's face was bright red at the obvious affection, but humored his close friend anyway. Panther smirked a little as he moved to share his ice cream with his adorably oblivious crush, but was blocked by Shin _accidently_ knocking his elbow into the proffered treat.

"Sorry." Shin didn't sound sorry, "Let's go get a new one." He grabbed a protesting Panther's elbow and dragged him back to the street vendor along the path of New York's Central Park.

Yamato jumped at the alone time with Sena. "Sena-kun, your friend Panther-kun seems a little… clingy." Yamato understated, hoping to curb his words enough so that Sena wouldn't get defensive.

"Yeah, Americans are like that." Sena blushed and looked away.

Yamato almost fell off the bench they'd been sitting on. He thought back to his time in the States with a frown, wondering if he missed something. Shaking away the thought, he asked, "What do you mean, Sena-kun?"

"Well, a while ago while I was chatting with Panther-kun; I admitted I was a little nervous that I'd embarrass myself here, and asked for advice on how to act in America." He frowned, embarrassed to be admitting any kind of weakness in front of the pillar of strength and speed that was Yamato. "Panther-kun told me a lot of different things that have helped me out a lot so far, but most importantly, he sent me an article about how affectionate Americans are, and how _touchy_ they are." He flushed and looked down.

Yamato saw red.

"He said that they'd studied up on Japan when they visited, so they weren't as touchy, but it was really hard for him not to hug his friend." Sena supplied helpfully after Yamato remained silent.

Yamato counted to ten. "I think Shin-san, Panther-kun, and I need to have a chat."

* * *

Hope you enjoyed, and please review!


	17. Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger

I own neither Eyesheild 21 nor Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger by Daft Punk

* * *

Chuubou ran at the practice dummy blindly, his eyes blinded by tears. Yamato-senpai had said that his Dynamite Delta was good, but Gaou-senpai just completely blew him away! And in front of Sena-senpai too! Chuubou was sure he'd never felt more shame in his life, being so completely blown away in front of his hero.

He grit his teeth (like Hakkinen-san from Finland said to do) as he hit the dummy over and over. He knew he couldn't even begin call himself Sena-senpai's protector if he was so weak. Chuubou knew what he had to do: he set himself to practicing tirelessly, all night if he had to. He admired Sena-senpai a lot, but unless he worked harder, made his Dynamite Delta better, moved faster, unless he made himself stronger, he was unworthy of being on the line.

He pushed his limits, working out timing nuances, putting more or less pressure in varying spots, and generally fine-tuning his greatest weapon. He had joined American football to be like Sena-senpai, and at the time it had been embarrassing to find that dream was impossible, that he wasn't a runner. But, he decided after his test at Teikoku Gakuen against Yamato-senpai, if he couldn't be like the runner he admired, Chuubou would become Sena-senpai's shield with pride.

The middle schooler pushed himself hard, but a treacherous corner of his mind whispered that it might be easier to practice if Sena-senpai wasn't zoning out and watching him. It was flattering, but it was pushing all his blood to his face. Then again, Senpai'd been a little off since that kid jumped the wall to talk to him earlier, but Chuubou couldn't quite figure out why. Yeah, that other kid was kinda cool, but didn't Sena-senpai understand that _he_ was the coolest?

Chuubou had just paused for a moment to wipe the blinding tears from his eyes, when a blur of motion caught his attention. He whipped his head around to see what was going on. Sena-senpai had gotten up from the bench where he'd been watching his kohei, and started running drills in and out of orange traffic cones.

Chuubou felt his eyes bulge at the insane speed of the first-year high schooler. Sena didn't seem to even notice Chuubou frozen in place watching his hero run drills faster than some pros. It was incredible, watching Sena-senpai go all out even in drills. Chuubou felt a chill go up his spine as he watched entranced. Slowly, he felt a smile spread over his lips as he realized what that chill was. This incredible footballer, his hero, was his ally. He and Senpai were on the same team. They were on the field _together. _ They, most importantly, were now practicing together. Nakabou Akira swung back to his dummy fiercely. They'd do it together, overcoming all obstacles, like that Panther and the rest of the American team and line.

They would work together, setting a firm foundation tonight. They wouldn't let the physical abilities of a black person or the build of an American beat them, because he and Sena-senpai were working harder, making themselves better, doing it faster, making themselves stronger. More than ever, hour after hour, their work was never over. The Americans would learn that the hard way; as they lost the World Cup.

* * *

A/N: I think Chuubou is a little gullible~ (really, such an impressionable youth :D). To me, he'd be the type to take Hakkinen at his word if he thought it would make him stronger. That's my little joke to myself in this chapter.

Finally, Eyeshield 27 Chapter nine _is _up, but it's under 'Eyeshield 21 Crossovers' next to 'Communities' and 'Discussion Forums' above the filters.


	18. Summer Sunshine

I own neither Eyeshield 21, nor the song 'Summer Sunshine' by The Corrs. Which I haven't been having a lot of. Cloudy days, my friends, cloudy days. :'(

* * *

A bead of sweat dripped down Sena's temple despite the cold, murky water swirling around his waist.

He liked training, he really did, even if Hiruma-san worked them hard, but this was one summer break he wished he could have a little time to himself. It wasn't even like they were running the death march in America again. No, this year they were taking a page out of Oujou's book and training in the mountains.

And, it wasn't as if he had the worst training menu on the team. In fact, when Hiruma-san handed out assignments, there'd been some good-natured grumblings of "favoritism"(only to be followed by gunshots and yelps of horror- Hiruma favored _no one_, really). Sena took them in stride, though. True he wasn't rolling boulders up the mountain, or running blindfolded though dense thickets, trusting Hiruma-san's directions and attempting to trust his memory, but what he was doing was equally stupid, reckless, dangerous, and effective.

No, instead of the aforementioned torture – training – Sena was running up and downstream in a rocky waist-deep riverbed. He was told the rocks would be good balance training, and that the current would be good resistance training. If he didn't break his ankle first. But he really couldn't get into it after Monta's cheerfully malicious question about leeches.

Sena stopped and shuddered at the thought. The short running back looked around cautiously, trying to ascertain whether or not Hiruma-san was hiding in the bushes with his guns, just waiting for sent to take an unauthorized break. It wouldn't be the first time.

Finding the coast sufficiently clear, Sena slowly lifted one leg clear of the water, balancing precariously against the flow, and carefully, fearfully, checked for clinging bloodsuckers.

'So far so good,' He thought to himself with cautious optimism, and continued easing his slender, toned calf out of the water to reveal his ankle, which he examined as closely as a referee at one of Agon-san's games. Finally, he pulled his whole foot out of the river and sighed with relief. Monta was just –

Sena's train of thought was gleefully derailed as he let out a half-scream, half-yelp of horror when he felt his submerged leg being pulled under the surface of the river. Sena flailed and fought desperately against the force holding him down. At least, he thought something was holding him down… He definitely felt something very much like a hand wrap around his ankle, and he should have reached the surface of the waist-deep water by now if he weren't being held under.

As suddenly as he'd been pulled under, the grasping hand was gone, banishing half formed thoughts of Swamp Things and Giant Leeches. Sena broke the surface of the river and gratefully, greedily, gulped in air. He looked around wildly, searching for the nearest bank or high rock, afraid of the previously harmless river.

He made his way quickly but carefully to the banks, and was ankle deep from sanctuary before he was ambushed by an armful of wet blond.

"Mizumachi-kun?!" Sena gaped in shock. He had talked to Mizumachi a couple days ago, before Hiruma-san had thought to take away cell phones and other 'distracting personal objects', and Sena knew the other boy was stuck in his own training camp with the rest of the Poseidons.

"What – How – When – Did you just dunk me?" Sena finally decided and sputtered out an indignant question.

"Seeeeeeena-kun~!" Mizumachi whined and cuddled in his boyfriend's lap. "It's been so long~ and I was sooooo bored! And you wouldn't call me anymore!" Mizumachi pouted and mock glared up at Sena.

Sena sighed a little about how much Mizumachi was acting like a lapdog, and soldiered on, refusing to be guilted out of his indignation. "So you thought it would be better to swim _up_ a mountain, _against_ the current of the river, to visit, rather than waiting for our camps to be over?"

Mizumachi pulled back slightly from his nuzzling of Sena's stomach and gave him his best, 'Duh. That was a stupid question.' look.

Sena rolled his eyes, and tried to hide his smile. "Seriously, Mizumachi-kun, is it really alright for you to sneak out of your training camp and into mine?" Sena asked before a cold chill ran down his spine. What would happen if Hiruma-san found out Mizumachi-kun came to visit? His heart sped up as he envisioned his team captain looming over them breathing fire while demolishing the local flora and fauna with sub-machine guns. "M-Maybe you'd better go." Sena suggested; eyes wide and blank from the traumatizing potential scenario.

"Se-n-a-kuuun, surely you're not suggesting I go home without even a kiss from my boyfriend…?" Mizumachi's eyes glimmered with dark intentions, like they had when he and Mizumachi-kun had first met, and Mizumachi-kun promised Deimon would be crushed by the high wave of the Poseidons.

Sena's horrific visions of Hiruma-san with fire and weapons were replaced by Mizumachi-kun surrounded by crashing waves, ready to pounce on a mini-Sena at the first sign of weakness. Despite being half-submerged in the river, the heat of the sun and the pressure of Mizumachi-kun's dark aura caused sweat to trickle down Sena's cheeks and forehead. Sena licked his sweat-salty lips and wondered just what to say to his mercurial boyfriend. He reached out a shaky hand and grasped a strand of blond hair. Usually fair as straw and as gravity-defying as his own, Mizumachi's hair was darkened and flattened by his swim, and framed his face and curious blue eyes enticingly.

"I-It's not that I don't w-want to k-k-kiss you…" Sena looked up from his boyfriend's mesmerizing eyes and up at the sky, distantly noticing that it was getting quite late in the afternoon. "It's just that, well, if anyone catches you here, they'll accuse you of spying and then all kinds of horrible things will happen." Sena released Mizumachi's hair and moved to bury his face in his hands. Sometimes his friends were so embarrassing.

He was startled, however, to find his face already being cradled by the man who's hair he'd been holding hostage.

"Sena." Mizumachi's blue eyes were playful and serious, dark and happy. "I don't care what your friends think. I don't care what my friends think. What I care about is what you think."

"Silly." Sena smiled and nuzzled into Mizumachi's larger, warmer hands. "If you put it that way, it has been too long." Sena leaned down captured the lips of the high schooler that was rapidly becoming his beloved.

"Sena-senpai?'

Sena jumped up, simultaneously dumping his boyfriend off his lap and into the river.

"Ch-Chuubou-kun!?" Sena panicked at having been caught with Mizumachi-kun in front of his underclassman.

"Wh-" Chuubou gaped, jaw open and eyes wide, trying to process just what he was seeing.

"I don't know what you're so worried about, Sena-kun," Mizumachi pouted and wallowed in the shallows, trying to make Sena feel guilty, "He's just your underclassman, threaten him or something and he'll go away." Having given his – awesome in his opinion – advice, Mizumachi lost interest in what Sena and the kid were going to do. Wasn't it obvious that Sena-kun would take his advice after all? _'I'm so smart.'_ Mizumachi thought smugly, _'Once the underclassmen goes away, maybe I can make out with Sena-kun a bit more before Kakei notices I'm missing."_ He chuckled darkly to himself, just imagining Sena-kun's adorable protesting face.

"You-!" Chuubou turned red, blood streaming to his face in anger, "DON'T CORRUPT SENA-SENPAI!!"

Mizumachi blinked.

"Chuubou-kun, it's not like that at all!" Sena waved his hands in front of himself as if trying to ward off Chuubou's words, and prayed that Hiruma-san hadn't heard. "He just wanted to-"

"What's all the racket about?" Another voice called from the woods.

Sena whimpered. "It's nothing Juumonji-kun, Chuubou-kun just got carried away!" Sena called back into the woods, hoping that since his first prayer had gone unanswered, then at least they wouldn't come over to check things out.

Sena glared over to where Mizumachi was back-floating in the shallows, seemingly bored with the situation. "What's wrong with you!?" He cried, tears streaming down his face, "Get out of here before they take you captive!"

Mizumachi shot him an amused glance.

In those crucial moments in which Sena's eyes weren't on his underclassman, Chuubou went in for the kill. No way was Sena-senpai getting molested on his watch – especially not by _the enemy_. He took a deep breath and prepared himself – for this could backfire big time – "SPY!" He screamed the magic word as loudly as he could manage.

Sena look horrified.

Mizumachi looked bored.

"MEAT!" Came the resounding answering cry.

Now Mizumachi looked a little worried.

Chuubou smirked a little. His upperclassmen would be upset if he were the one to catch the spy, meaning that he couldn't lay a finger on _the enemy_, but he knew his cry would protect his hero.

"You have to go _now_." Sena waded in the river and stared shoving Mizumachi into the current. "Hiruma-san has us on a strict vegetarian diet, with the promise of meat for every spy caught." He looked up with wide eyes as he saw a dust trail leading towards them from deeper in the forest. "That's Kurita-san! Swim, Mizumachi-kun!" Sena's eyes were dilated with fear, fear that matched what Mizumachi was beginning to feel. "Swim and be free!" He cried.

* * *

A/N: A big thanks to Shinnie the Meanie for beta-ing. Shinnie's always awesome about that!! Also a thanks to Mithras151 for always encouraging me to write, even when I feel unmotivated. This is over world limit again, btw.

Hopefully Eyeshield 27 will be up within the month, I'm working a lot in the next couple weeks, but I haven't updated in a couple... months (?) now. Sorry! Also, super Secret Project #4 is currently in research and development. You can follow updates about where I am in the writing process on twitter, linked on my profile as my homepage. And finally, sorry if you've reviewed and I haven't responded. I try my best to respond to each review I recieve, so hopefully I can get back to all of you.

Sorry for the massive author's note today, but thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed, and please review!


	19. Showdown

As usual, I own neither Eyeshield 21, nor the music I use for inspiration in my little series of ficlettes. This one is from the Black Eyed Peas' song 'Showdown'. What can I say? I've been on a BEP kick lately.

Sena stood in the back field, his chest heaving painfully, but eyes locked with Panther's as if they were both on the line of scrimmage face-to-face. Really, he couldn't have taken his eyes off of Panther if he had wanted to. Even the dumbfounded and highly irritated referees blowing whistles and screaming for Kid-san to stop his short string of 'hut's' couldn't draw his attention away from his rival.

Funny story, that. Once upon a time, Sena had thought that Shin-san had been his rival, and in truth, continued to think that even after he had met Patrick for the first time. Sena'd learned from his mistakes, however, the minute he watched the lean running back zip though a full football field and leap with breathtaking grace up into the stands; supposedly to greet his Japanese friend, but Sena could read the challenge in his eyes.

'I've grown, Sena,' His eyes grinned, 'Have you?'

At that moment, Sena knew that – as amazing as Shin-san was – their rivalry had never really been the head-to-head running back to running back _showdown_ that Sena didn't know he'd been seeking.

Hell, Sena didn't even have a clue that he'd been looking for the showdown before Panther leapt with all the grace of his namesake.

Now, Sena felt the electric thrill surge though him as Kurita snapped the ball back on Kid-san's command, and before he could even _think_ to move, he was at his quarterback's side accepting his precious burden, eyes still glued to the sleek predator waiting for his Sena-prey to show weakness.

He felt his eyes gleam behind the eyeshield.

He _had _grown, and this predator was foolish to stalk such strong prey. He was more than ready for the showdown.


	20. I Gotta Feeling

A/N: As always, I own neither Eyeshield 21, nor the songs I use as inspiration. Also, as always, this is dedicated to my awesomely amazing editor, Bragi151 (Who, by the way, dressed Sena for this story). Please enjoy and review!

* * *

Sena smiled to himself as he laced up his shoes in the hotel room. He had plans tonight, his last night in New York. He had played his best friend and rival in the biggest arena of high school football, he had spent all month playing football and being with his best friends in the whole world, and he couldn't help but grin at the deep aches of his muscles and bruises. He was ecstatic.

Patrick had been adamant that Team Japan had to go out to a club on the last night they were in town, arguing they had the whole flight back to Japan to make up their sleep debt and that, even if they couldn't get into the clubs that served alcohol, they could still go to a club and dance. Surprisingly, not even Sena had made a token protest; thrilled with the idea of having one last night with his new friends from India, Germany, France, Finland, and even Militaria when they came down off their über-disciplined high.

_I gotta feeling._

Sena straitened up and moved to stand in front of the mirror, eyeing his plain white work-out tee-shirt. It was a little tighter on him than he would usually wear when going out, but Juumonji-kun assured him that's how it was supposed to be worn. The low collar accented strong – but bruised – collar bones, and was left un-tucked. He wore wearing equally tight jeans, so dark a blue it bordered on black, and his favorite tennis shoes, the ones with a white body with black laces and lining. His messy brown hair stood apart richly from the monochromatic color schme and fit very well with the _almost_ half-kempt look. His brown eyes were set off nicely by the lack of color, Suzuna had said. It was all a stark contrast to the clothes he'd brought for the awards ceremony – that _every_ team was skipping, leaving coaches to collect awards. It was their last childish prank together, made sweeter by the unity of _all_ the teams.

No one wanted to dwell in the 'what-ifs', so they decided to make their own memories, and end the month in _their_ way. With a final smirk at his mirror, Sena rotated in place and strode confidently to the door of the hotel room. It wouldn't do to be late; they had memories to make.

_Tonight's gonna be a good night._

Upon reaching the lobby containing Team Japan, Sena's small smile grew larger almost exponentially. This was the team that he had eaten with, slept with, strained for breath with, sweated with, shivered with for the past month or longer. By all accounts, he should be sick of them. He couldn't love them more, or be prouder of them.

He met Hiruma's sharp, appraising look with an indulgent and amused smile, and earned a toothy grin in return. The team captain nodded in approval and let out a low whistle, causing the team to fall in behind him unconsciously, without irritation, they were as ready as he to play.

They met Patrick at the club that was dominated by American football players, and rather than that causing people to pass it up, it seemed to draw more people to the small club. Sena grinned and greeted his friend with hug, drawing cheers from the crowded club even over the pounding base. Two of the heroes of the World Cup kept their rivalry on the field and were ready to just have _fun_.

_Tonight's the night / Let's live it up__._

_I feel stressed and__ / __I wanna let it go__ / __Lets go way out spaced out__ / __And losing all control__._

That night, Sena had almost no reservations. Despite his almost notorious leeriness of dance floors, Sena was the first out that night, following his American friend. They'd drawn a crowd almost immediately, and Sena found himself drawn away from Panther quickly. He let the music and the people pick his destination and just let it flow through him, feeling nothing and everything, thinking of nothing more than the resounding satisfaction and joy that came from fighting at his highest level and now playing at his highest level. He found himself bouncing with the music and felt he was being whirled though his friends, facing Shin, Hakkinen, Akaba, Schultz, Gaou, Bud Walker, Agon, Monta, a Team Africa player, Hiruma, and even Mamori-nee at different times during the night.

The following morning, they all got chewed out by Dokuburo-sensei, Sena got tackle-hugged by half the teams leaving around the same time, and Team Japan boarded the plane with splitting headaches, but none of that wiped away the mysterious half-smiles on their faces. Everyone that had been at the club that night felt it. And they wouldn't have traded a moment of their time together for anything.

_That tonight's gonna be a good, good night._


	21. The Man Who Sold the World

I do not own Eyeshield 21 nor the song 'The Man Who Sold the World' by David Bowie, and later covered by Nirvana.

This was written based on the request of Epoch95, my 100th reviewer of Running to the Beat. That you all so very, very much.

* * *

Sena smiled to himself as he watched Agon collect the cell phone numbers of a group of four girls, all within plain sight of one another. It was just like Agon, with his inflated sense of entitlement, to not only callously collect a girl's friend's number in front of her, but to expect each of them to feel flattered that he allowed them space in his phone's memory banks at all.

Indeed, the third-year team captain hadn't changed much from first year, still walking around like he owned the world and could do with it what he wished. What had changed, however, was that he was now tolerable to be around. Well, that might be a bit of an overstatement, considering Sakuraba, Riku, Kakei, Gaou, and the rest of the Kanto area team captains all left the burger joint in disgust, rage, or exasperation after having to deal with Agon during the hour-long brain storming session of how to set up another international game, given their limited club budgets.

It was increasingly looking like the only one that could put up with the arrogant Agon was Sena. The running back-turned-Agon-ambassador sipped his soda and wondered why that was. It could have to do with Sena's new-found courage. One cannot captain a team of reluctant first-years with timidity, after all. Or, it could be that Agon had mellowed out in the intervening years – though, that was unlikely, Sena reflected as he watched his friend torment a girl's boyfriend to tears and nearly a change of pants. It could be that since, for the first time in his life, Agon had come up against someone he simply _couldn't_ beat, he showed grudging respect to Sena. Or some twisted combination of all three.

A rough, tanned hand snagged the soda out of Sena's hand.

"Gimme some, I'm thirsty." Agon demanded, leaving Sena to smile slightly at the arrogant action, and briefly reevaluate the 'friend' label he had given Agon.

"You could have gotten any one of those girls to buy you a drink, give me mine back." Sena retorted and made a futile grab for it. Damnit, if only Agon had run…

"No way, I want yours." Agon grinned evilly.

"Oh, is this your kindergarten throwback way of tormenting the one you love?" Sena teased with brutal Hiruma wit.

"Asshole." Agon gritted out, and Sena handed back the school bag he'd knocked from the guy who'd just entered the restaurant's hand, after Sena had knocked into him.

The Deimon representative looked back across the floor space to where Agon was now lounging in _his_ spot, drinking _his_ soda, like he hadn't just missed his lunge at Sena. Jerk.

Sena trotted back with a wry smile. It didn't matter how charming Agon was, Sena could always see through it, and the opposite was just as true. Agon's fixation on Sena may have presented itself through bullying, but it was obvious when Sena was face-to-face with the man who could sell the world and walk away with an obnoxious grin that Agon was puzzled about how to act around Sena, how to express his interest in a manner what was as non-threatening as possible to his self-image as a womanizer. So Sena did what he always did, ordered another soda, and drew on his deep reserve of patience so he wouldn't lose control, went face-to-face with the man who sold the world.

* * *

A/N: When the Nirvana version of 'The Man Who Sold the World' came up on my iPod, all I could think was what brass balls someone would have to have to sell the world and walk away with a smile. Agon fits that arrogant description to a 'T' in my view, so I thought this would be a good song for another Agon/Sena as a literal interpretation. I chose the Nirvana version over the Bowie version of 'The Man Who Sold the World' because Bowie's original song seemed incredibly personal when you broke down the lyrics. So, for my story, if you follow along with the music rather than just the words, listen to Nirvana and take it literally, but if you're interested, you can listen to Bowie and listen to _his_ story instead. Sorry about the length and the rambling, and thanks for reading, please review!

P.S.: Also: Never want to write Agon/Sena again. EVER. This was a total bitch to write.

P.P.S: Sorry this took so long, Epoch95!


	22. Don't Stop

I own neither Eyeshield 21 nor Patrick & Eugene's 'Don't Stop', nor do I profit from either of them.

* * *

Monta's face was a mask of pure determination and concentration in the backfield as he psyched himself up for a run. He would have to try to keep up with Sena for at least three yards for the play to work, and for Deimon to finish this game with a comfortable lead rather than having to worry about another come-from-behind brawl.

His face mellowed out to a tight smile as he saw a forearm reach out to him hesitantly. With a psych-up cry, Monta bashed their arms together right before Hiruma called for the play, leaving them with the lingering contact as they matched pace past the line that was powerless to stop Sena, and next to useless against Monta.

When Hiruma had designed this play, there was a little bit of hesitation, wondering if Sena could find it in him to hold back long enough even for his best friend. Hiruma said he would. Monta knew he wouldn't.

Sena lived for two things: running and football, and although he was usually a good little soldier in Hiurma's army, at some point in the game his adrenaline would kick in, his eyes would dilate, and he'd be gone.

Monta knew this. Monta loved him for it.

For all his flamboyant worship of Mamori, she was just so _tame_, so _domestic._ When Monta got serious playing with Sena, he knew who his heart really belonged to.

Behind the line, the linebackers were breaking up to pick a target. Some moved perpendicular to attempt to cut Sena off at an angle, and some ran straight for Monta, who had fallen behind just as he had predicted.

He knew Hiruma would be pissed at the end of the game for Sena ruining his plans. Monta was supposed to keep up; otherwise the linebackers would split up like this.

Ah, well. Monta decided as he felt the arc of the football above and behind him, in a position he would never be able run to in time – a rare mistake made by Hiruma due to his blocked sight line. If Sena blew this, Hiruma would try to collar his runner, and Monta liked Sena as he was.

In a move that sent the crowds into frenzy and completely baffled the referees, Monta leapt, planted a cleat in the closest linebacker's chest, and launched himself up impossibly high.

At the end of the game, Hiruma raged as predicted, all but breathing fire, but he didn't especially punish Sena, so Monta just leaned in threw and arm around his best friend's shoulder, pulling Sena's head against his conspiratorially, and muttered, "Don't stop what you do."

* * *

Just a page-long un-beta'd drabble for y'all because it's been a while, because I need a break from standard deviations, and because both Bragi151 and I are swamped in school. до свидания!


	23. Train Song

Edit: It occurs to me that I neither put my standard disclaimer nor a warning on here. My bad, sorry if you read this before I fixed it up!

I own neither Eyeshield 21 nor 'Train Song' by Tom Waits.

Warning: Very Dark.

* * *

Sena was born and bred Japanese; that was an indisputable fact. Which was why, despite the fact that he usually jogged to get to where he wanted to go, he still knew how to navigate Japan's train system with ease, he decided.

Sena was standing in the entryway of one such train, gazing out the window in a trance-like state, half meditating on the oddity of his knowledge, half wondering just what he was doing on said train. He couldn't bring himself to care too deeply about why he was on the train; however, for his body felt too lax, loose, like he hadn't a care in the world.

Gazing out the window, for that matter, might have been a bit of misnomer, considering the landscape beyond the wide windows – or lack thereof – was pitch-black. It might have been better to say Sena was watching what he could see of his reflection being cast in harsh relief by the glaring florescent lights behind him.

As for the other half of Sena's concentration, well, he remembered promising to visit Juumonji-kun at Saikyodai, so that must be why he was on the train, mustn't it…? But, no, Sena realized, and glanced down at his shoulder. How could he be visiting Juumonji-kun without his duffle-bag? It had his change of clothes, his gear in case Hiruma-san actually let him practice with them, his homework that he'd been planning to do over the long weekend. Did he lose it somewhere?

A little disturbed at his lack of memory, Sena pressed hard. Where had he put his bag? When he had boarded the train, he had… No, that couldn't be right. When he had boarded the train, it had been early afternoon, and it had been pretty full. Not packed, but still, standing room only.

Frustrated with the time lapse and with the lack of weight on his shoulder, Sena felt compelled to investigate. Resolutely, he tore his gaze away from his reflection, though he still couldn't drag his eyes away from the door. He gritted his teeth in what was quickly becoming irritation at his uncooperative body. Sena tightened his grip on the hand bar he'd been clutching above him, and put as much energy as he could muster into turning around.

The train was empty. Sena gaped at the sight. Like what he was beginning to think of as 'his' window, all the others offered no view to the outside world, only resounding blackness. The florescent lights that had made a black mirror for him in his window barely shed enough harsh light to illuminate the car, and left dark pools and faded corners of shadow.

Sena frowned, and again checked his grip above his head. Where had everyone gone? He was pretty sure the train hadn't stopped yet; he thought he could feel the motion of the car beneath his feet. Still, people be damned, where was his bag?

With a frown of determination, Sena scanned the car a second time, making sure to let his eyes linger under the shaded seats. Then, upon seeing no bag, looked up. Perhaps there was an overhead compartment? No, not there either.

Sena couldn't explain why, but he was now burning with determination to find his damned duffle-bag.

Still, for some reason, Sena just didn't want to – no – it wasn't that he didn't want to move from where he was standing, it was that when he tried to turn around, he just couldn't.

This was rapidly starting to _piss Sena off_. It felt like his body was leaden, like every movement was weighted, like he was trying to walk accross the bottom of the ocean. Sena wasn't used to his body not listening to him; he was used to it complaining viciously, to it begging for rest, but in the end, his muscles _always_ responded to him. _Always._

Well, fuck _this_. He had to find his bag, damn it! Resolutely, Sena took a step forward and almost knocked himself out. While he did manage to move, he had forgotten to move his hand still attached to the bar above him, and almost swung around and knocked himself out on the vertical bar in front of him.

He chuckled nervously at his carelessness. But still, for some reason, it seemed like a worse idea to remove his hand from the slowly warming metal. Compromising, Sena slowly started stepping down the empty aisles, but slid his hand along the stainless-steel. In order to stay as close to the bar as possible, Sena felt his legs brushing against the hard, cheap plastic seats, thinly upholstered – if one could call the travesty of horrible, furry patterned plastic upholstery – but paid them no mind, even as his heart started thumping ever louder when he childishly wondered if something more monstrous than the color combinations would reach from under the darkness of and drag him to some alternate dimension to be devoured.

Still Sena marched on. Where was his duffle-bag? He kept his eyes firmly on the door that would lead him to the next carriage, and his hand firmly attached to the bar above him. He walked, passing countless black windows and endless stretches of plastic chairs, and he walked some more.

Slowly, Sena realized he should have reached the door by now. He paused, and looked behind him uncertainly, wonder how far he had gotten. To his utter shock, he couldn't even see 'his' window anymore. Just a long, shadowed tube of carriage and plastic and black glass.

Pushing back the urge to hyperventilate, Sena did what he did best. He ran. Sena, careful not to remove his hand, bolted like the hounds of hell were nipping on his heels. He didn't think he had run faster in his last match, nor the first time the mock hell-hound of Hiruma's had chased him. He ran and he ran, but he still couldn't reach the door.

Finally, overwhelmed and pissed off, Sena yelled, "NO!" and stopped in place.

"No, I will not chase this damn door. No, I will not accept the fact that I am not getting any closer; no, I will not accept the fact that I'm lost; and FUCK NO, I will not accept the fact that I cannot have my duffle-bag back, damn it! That had Kazuki's anniversary present in it, GOD DAMN IT!" Sena screamed, refusing to give in. He screwed his eyes shut and bolted forward again, bound and determined to get to the damn door.

"Woah, there, son. Where are you off to in such a hurry?"

Struck by the surreality of the situation, Sena tightened his grip on the bar to keep himself from colliding with the voice that had appeared suddenly in an empty train.

"That's right." Sena whispered to himself, his eyes still firmly shut. "I wanted to visit Kazuki Juumonji this weekend, because it's our second anniversary. He asked me out our second year, and even though I left at the end of second year, we maintained our long-distance relationship. It was harder to maintain it when we went off to university than it was to maintain it when we had an ocean between us. This weekend is our anniversary, and it was my turn to visit him. I even bought him the new warm-ups he had been admiring, but said he couldn't justify buying himself. I was taking the train to visit him. This weekend is our anniversary." Sena repeated like a mantra, to ward off the cold that was settling in his heart.

"Son? Open your eyes for me, would ya'?" The warm, old voice requested.

"I don't want to. If I do, it'll be real."

"Now, son, you went this far to wake up, don't be difficult now."

"Please," Sena all but sobbed, "Please, if I do, can I have my bag back?"

"… We'll see what we can do."

"No." Sena was fully sobbing now. "No. I've been stubborn enough to get this far, don't deny me now."

"Open your eyes, Sena Kobayakawa." The voice was no longer kindly, but harsh and guttural. "This has gone on long enough. You couldn't be content waiting for the train to pull into the station, so now you'll have to sleep for the rest of the ride."

"No. Not until Kazuki gets his present."

"Don't be stupid, boy. It was a train that took you away, but a train won't take you home. Open your eyes and forget about your damn bag. You won't need it anyway."

"No. Not until Kazuki gets his present."

The voice let out a hiss of frustration. No, it was too long to be frustration. And there was different sounding hiss answering it. Was the voice talking to the others that made up the 'we' to which it had referred to earlier?

"Damn." The voice muttered.

Suddenly, Sena felt his duffle-bag get shoved into his stomach violently, almost making him lose grip on the bar above him.

"You will ride this train to the end of the line; you will get off when we tell you. In exchange, since you're so extraordinarily difficult, you may give your present to your partner. Curl up around it and do not let go." The voice lectured, somewhere between the kind voice and the cruel voice, causing echoes in Sena's mind that chilled his bones with the frost of fear. "Open your eyes."

And Sena did.

"_I hope he's worth it."_ The voice echoed.

Sena was hit with waves and waves of overwhelming pain.

"He is." He whispered, with a soft smile as he writhed and agony and clutched his duffle. "He always was."

"We've got a live one over here!" A voice cried above him.

Sena gaped for breath like a fish out of water, his lungs trying desperately to draw in oxygen, despite the large, bloody hole in his chest.

"Hey, son, just hold on a little longer," The rescue response man urged above him, and leaned down to get a better look at the chest wound that was blocked by a large duffle-bag.

"Don't bother," The boy whispered, and the man's eyes were drawn up to the boy's horribly disfigured face. He didn't think the poor, sweetly smiling boy would ever be able to see again. "I'm dead. I just borrowed some time to complete one last errand."

The man looked away from the horror of blood burbling and bubbling and dripping from that serene smile. "Don't talk, ok, son? You're only hurting yourself."

"No."

The man froze from the resolution in that one word, and knew this was a battle he was going to lose.

"Please, won't you help me?" Gone was that resolution, and instead, the sweet, hurting boy was begging for help.

"Yes." The man answered helplessly.

"Thank you," Sena sighed. "Please, I need you to give my bag to Kazuki Juumonji at Saikyodai. His address is in my phonebook. Please, please," He whispered. "Please, it was supposed to be our anniversary. Please."

The man's eyes filled with tears, unable to say no, even to such an unusual request, with the boy below him begging with his dying breath.

"Yes." The man answered helplessly.

"Thank you." Sena sighed, for the final time.

Tears ran down the man's cheeks for the unnamed boy, as gently pried away the boys' arms from where he had clutched the bag, turning his eyes from the metal pole that had once been a hand rail in what had once been a train - rather than ruined, twisted, smoking metal mass spanning the tracks - protruding from the boy's chest cavity, and even more carefully retrieved said phone from the dead boy's pocket.

It wasn't until he had delivered the bloodied bag to the tall blond at the address written in the phone, and watched the other boy's heart break in front of his eyes, that he had to go home and sob quietly for the life cut short in front of his eyes.

But Sena knew none of that. All he knew was that he was back on the endless train, back at his door and window, but this time, he could see the gaping hole where the large chunk of flesh had been torn from the area around his eyes by his windows shattered glass. Had he been alive, of course, he wouldn't be able to see such a gruesome sight and he idly wondered if it was that, or his own ignorance had caused him to miss it earlier.

Slowly, gently, the train drew to a stop and Sena knew without looking the voice was back.

"Go on now, son. This is the last stop, and you promised." The voice was again kind.

"Yes," Sena answered steadily.

He dropped his hand from the stainless-steel bar that had anchored him so firmly and exited the train into a blinding white light, a small, serene smile settled upon his lips.


	24. And I Feel Fine Boom

Bragi and I are still bickering over whether or not this is done, but I think I can't let this auspicious occasion go unmarked, and the subject matter was simply _too_ perfect.

Song and all rights belong to: R.E.M. (It's The End Of The World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine))

* * *

Sena let the impossibilities brush past him as easily as the faux-outraged screams that echoed off the tile walls in the mock-up of a Japanese bathhouse in the middle of a rather well-appointed New York City hotel's spa.

Around him, naked teenaged boys were tempting fate and courting injuries by running around on the wet tiled floors.

The Deimon running back knew he should be shocked that the Deimon quarterback had managed to commandeer the entirety of the spa, or at least incredulous that Hiruma had managed to get it completely overhauled into two rooms, one for washing and one for a large bathing pool.

Sena knew there was an epidemic of towel-snapping plaguing the bathing room, but couldn't quite bring himself to care. Most of these guys had never been in a Japanese bath, so they _would_ probably treat it like a locker room.

Hiruma also managed the hotel staff into cleaning, stocking, and monitoring the impromptu bathhouse, going so far as to set specific hours for men and for women.

As an added bonus, Sena knew better than to even try giving him a little more mental focus to push back the impending mental breakdown of the chaos swirling around him.

The curiosity of the Japanese team completely domineering the spa and the rumors of 'the amazing Eyeshield 21' seemed to draw the other nation-teams from their rooms to see what exactly the big deal was.

Once a team cautiously approached the entryway, they were overenthusiastically greeted by Chuubou (it was the only way to keep him from hovering over his idol, trying to block the gazes of the other bathers from Sena's body, despite Sena's embarrassed protests) with offers of baskets for personal possessions and towels for bashful first-time communal bathers.

Sena tried his best to ignore the circus surrounding him, more focused on getting clean as fast as possible and sinking into the blissfully hot baths to soak his sore muscles than on the bewildered and gawking nation-teams; Hiruma was still trying to find the proper balance of the practice-to-rest ratio, seeing as Team Japan had mostly worked _against_ each other.

Sena yelped and leapt to his feet as he felt ice-cold water run down his back. Blushing furiously at all the curious eyes, Sena whirled around to face his tormenter.

"Panther!" Sena cried out in shock and reached out to knock away a wet, balled-up towel zeroing in on his head, before the American running back's unusual snickering and the wooden bathing bucket he was arrogantly dangling from his long fingers reminded Sena of his friend's prank. "You big jerk!" He cried and punched his friend's forearm a little harder than a normal friendly punch. "How the hell did you even get into the hotel?"

"What you don't know won't hurt you~." The taller running back teased and side-stepped to avoid Komusubi and two-thirds of the 'Huh' brothers racing to the baths.

"We charmed the receptionist." Came the deep voice behind Panther.

Leaning around Panther – carefully, as to avoid Hiruma walking down the aisle and hitting anyone he caught acting out with mop handle, Mamori-nee style – Sena caught sight of the slightly embarrassed Homer clutching a towel around his waist, and the bemused and enthusiastic Watt examining his wooden bucket filled with bathing materials.

"Hey." Sena greeted him with a bright smile, and shoved the guy to his right using the removable shower head as a weapon off his stool. "Hurry up and wash, I'm _freezing._" He finished with a glare to Panther.

"Why did Hiruma-sama set this up anyway?" Watt asked idly as the boys dropped gracelessly onto the wooden stools.

Sena froze up for a minute, and narrowly avoided a bar of soap to the temple thanks to Watt pushing him. "Thanks." He murmured despite it being overshadowed by the loud apology by the thrower. "Why did you call him Hiruma-sama?"

"That's what Hiruma-sama said to call him. He said that the team captain that wins the Christmas Bowl must be treated like a lord." Watt answered guilelessly.

Sena shook his head, and finally chucked the soap back, smiling victoriously as he heard the resulting yelp. "I have no idea why Hiruma-_sama_ set this up. He even specially ordered towels and set up cold watermelon to be eaten in the bath. I never get any, though." Sena pouted.

Juumonji walked by and ruffled Sena's hair. "C'mon, I ache like a motherfucker."

Jerking his head away in irritation, Sena gestured at the American trio. "I'm waiting on them."

The blond lineman narrowed his eyes in irritation. "I think they can figure out how to wash themselves." He drawled sarcastically, his eyes burning with antagonism.

Homer rolled his eyes. "I'm done."

"Me too!" Watt leapt to his feet cheerfully.

Panther's eyes got wide, "How did you two wash so fast?" he squawked with indignation.

"Maybe if you kept your eyes to yourself you'd get done faster." Juumonji smirked.

Sena rolled his eyes and stalked forward to the bath room, only to have to leap over a French player treating the wet tile as a water slide and careening head-first into Sena's path and continue nonchalantly.

"He's so zen." Watt commented with amusement and followed.


	25. Conquest 2point0

I own neither Eyeshield 21 nor the song Conquest by The White Stripes

3/5/12 EDIT: Reworked this to be slightly less trite (Cliche is charming, RIGHT? RIGHT?) and hopefully to be less date-rapey. TW: alluding to date-rape/potential attempted/implied attempted date-rape.

* * *

Sena winced a little as he squeezed though the crowded room. Sena was really happy that Yamato-kun had thought to invite him to the taller running back's party, but Yamato-kun had so many friends that even after arriving at the original Eyeshield 21's house ('_Mansion_,' an unhelpful part of his mind supplied) with Monta, he still hadn't seen anyone from Teikoku's American football team.

And to make matters worse, as soon as they'd arrived, Monta had taken off to go find Taka, leaving Sena all alone in a houseful ('_Mansionful_,' supplied the annoying voice, '_He must have invited his whole phonebook!_') of strangers.

Giving up on finding his host for the time being, Sena wandered over to a large group of people, hoping to find _someone _he knew.

"Heeey, you're really cute!"

Sena must have jumped at least a mile when the drunken girl slung her arm around his shoulder. "I-I'm sorry, I don't believe we've met…?" Sena tried, hoping the girl would take the hint and leave his personal bubble alone.

"Awwwa! He's got manners too! I wanna take him home!" She reached out to pinch his cheeks, one hand hampered by the red plastic cup. She looked down at it in surprise, as if wondering where it had come from.

"Aiko, leave him alone." A smooth voice commanded from over both of their heads.

'Aiko' pouted. "Ken! You never let me have any fun!" She accused and hugged Sena to her chest.

'Ken' sighed. "Hey, look Aiko, Sakuraba!" He pointed in a random direction.

Aiko whirled around, letting her grip loosen. "Where?"

Ken grabbed Sena's hand and pulled him away from the clingy girl. "Sorry about her," He offered over his shoulder, having yet to release Sena's hand as he pulled Sena behind him though the crowd. "She's not the brightest crayon in the box."

Sena let out a startled little laugh. "You know her?" The running back asked a little incredulously.

"Yeah, we're childhood friends." Ken rolled his eyes. "Here we go," He strolled up to a bar set up and offered Sena a free spot, before shoving a kid from a neighboring seat off his chair and sitting with Sena.

"So what's a nice, polite boy like you doing at one of Yamato's parties?" He asked with a smile.

"Yamato-kun and I play American football." Sena smiled a little nervously… He didn't want to admit he was part of the team that defeated his friend's team at the Christmas bowl.

Sena's attempts at subtlety were futile as the other boys eyes widened before narrowing predatorily.

"Oh? Might you be Eyeshield 21?" Ken asked, and leaned against the bar, facing Sena while motioning to the kid playing barkeeper for the night to get them drinks.

"Heh… heh…" Sena looked around a little helplessly, unsure how to answer.

Ken smirked, "You know, Aiko might be on to something… you are awfully cute." Ken smiled his most charming smile, and handed Sena a glass of something with a weird color.

"A-ah, I had a kinda bad experience last time I drank…" Sena attempted to push the cup away.

"Nonsense," Ken purred, "I'll watch out for you, Eyeshield-kun."

Sena felt distinctly uncomfortable. Ken had saved him from Aiko, but after he'd found out that Sena was Eyeshield 21, it was like a switch had been flipped and his smile had become a touch creepy. "No, really Ken-san, I'm fine." Sena, rejecting the drink.

"Hmmm? But Eyeshield-kun, why don't you loosen up a little?" Ken's eyes were no longer playful. Actually they were hard and a little scary.

"I really don't want to," Sena all but begged the bigger boy.

"Well then," Ken's eyes were almost cruel, "We'll have to…"

Ken was cut off by a hand grabbing the drink in question from his hand.

Sena followed the arm up to its owner. "Yamato-kun!" Sena greeted with surprise and relief.

"Hello, Sena-kun," Yamato smiled brightly at his rival. "Sorry I couldn't greet you properly earlier, but some uninvited people tend to sneak in at these types of events." Yamato looked over at Ken, his eyes clearly threatening.

"What are you talking about, Yamato?" Ken was back to his cheerful friendliness, as if he'd never eyed Sena so hungrily.

Ken flinched as the wood from the back of his chair exploded into splinters.

"You know, Aiko might need help finding her way home tonight." Ken croaked, gaping at the back of his chair and Yamato's single-handed grip.

"Sounds like a plan." Yamato forced a smile.

Yamato dropped down into the vacated chair with a sigh. "Sorry about that Sena-kun…" He braced his elbow on the bar and buried his face into his hand, the other one handing off the questionable cup to someone.

"Yamato-kun?" Sena questioned, confused.

"It's alright, don't worry about it." Yamato didn't look up, humiliated that one of his acquaintances just tried to pick up his secret crush, and planning out what to tell security so they'd bar the celebrity-chaser from entering again.

"I-If you says so…"

Sena frowned dubiously at the red plastic cup Yamato-kun had handed him. But, well, Yamato-kun had handed him the cup after all, and had said it was alright, hadn't he? Swallowing down his doubts and worries, Sena closed his eyes, lifted the cup, and took a tentative sip.

He could taste the horribly fruity concoction burn its way down his throat, and knew from his night at Kurita-senpai's that this was undoubtedly alcohol. But something wasn't quite right; Sena was feeling the hit too distinctly compared to his last experience drinking. Opening his eyes and gazing down at the bubbling blue drink, Sena wondered whether it was a higher proof than he was used to, or if Ken-san had slipped something other than alcohol into it.

He felt the room heating up a bit, and scanned the crowd briefly to check if more people had come in or not. It looked about the same, Sena estimated, but he still licked his lips, the rising temperature making him thirsty. He glanced down at the blue fizz, and then up at where Yamato was brooding about something at the bar, wondering whether or not he should disturb his upperclassman just for a new drink. But Sena was just so _thirsty._ Unable to stand the heat any longer, Sena took a greedy gulp of the cold fizz. He felt the icy burning flow down his throat, and decided that the fruit wasn't _so_ horrible when he was this thirsty. Shaking off his doubt like water off a duck, Sena downed the rest of the glass. Yamato-kun had said it was alright, hadn't he?

Yamato looked up, wondering why Sena-kun was so reluctant, just in time to see Sena chug the glass that Yamato thought he'd passed off to one of his friends.

"Se-Sena-kun!" Yamato cried out. This wasn't good! He had no idea what Ken had put in there!

Sena grinned widely, "Ya-Yamato-kun? What was in that cup?"

Yamato panicked. He himself had no idea what he'd accidentally served Sena, and it terrified him that he'd managed to abuse Sena's trust in him in such an off-handed manner.

It seemed not to matter to Sena after all, though, because the emperor of Teikoku found himself with an intoxicated Eyeshield 21 plastered up against his side. Cuddling.

Sena could probably have told you the exact moment the alcohol had hit. He hadn't had a lot of experience with it, but what experience he had had, didn't end well at all. He was pretty sure that the alcohol had hit the moment that he stopped thinking of Yamato-kun as Yamato-kun, and started thinking of him as 'a guy who looks _a lot_ like Yamato-kun.'

But all Sena could think at the time was that since this guy _looks _like Yamato-kun, but isn't, then it was really, _really_ important to tell him that the real Yamato-kun was hot like _woah!_ And that Sena had a crush on the _real_ Yamato-kun. It was imperative that he knew.

Sena moved to try to lean flush against his chest–to whisper a secret, as certain lack of distance was required, of course, even if that meant he was practically _in_ the false-Yamato's lap, his lips practically _on_ Yamato's ear. "You can't tell him, but I like Yamato-kun a lot!" Sena murmurer and draped himself across his sober friend.

Yamato was all but hyperventilating. This was his best wet dream come true! He knew he shouldn't take advantage, that if he did anything, both Sena and he himself would hate him in the morning, but surely Sena wouldn't mind if he carefully, hesitantly wrapped his arms around the slender boy's waist…

Only to find his crush completely passed out.

Yamato chuckled wryly at his luck, but leaned forward to whisper in Sena's ear with a fond smile anyway, while stoking Sena's back soothingly. "Looks like you were the one to make a conquest tonight, Sena-kun, but don't think you're getting off so easily tomorrow, hangover or no hangover, now that I know your secret crush."


	26. Level

I do not own or make money from Eyeshield 21, nor The Raconteurs, nor their song, "Level." Oh. Nor Mission: Impossible.

* * *

"We're going to crush those fuckers from Deimon!" The new lineman crowed, standing on a bench and posing, hoping for more attention to egg him on.

"Get down and shower, idiot." The team captain ordered wearily, throwing a towel at his underclassman's face. These idiots were too young to know how badly they had gotten destroyed in the "practice matches" of last year.

"I don't want to," the lineman pouted, and failed to swat away the towel. "They've got a lame quarterback, and a short receiver, and a little _fairy_ runningback." He sneered crudely. "I could probably kick his ass by sneezing at him, or showing off my amazing abs!" He joked, and pulled his practice jersey off, and whirled it over his head in an approximation of a strip-show, goaded on by the other idiot freshmen hooting and whistling and laughing.

The captain face-palmed and sighed heavily. His introspection, however, was cut short by a careful knock at the clubroom door. "Cover up, morons." He warned them, making his way over. "I don't want a teacher to get an eyeful."

"Who wouldn't want to see this?" The idiot asked rhetorically, licked a forefinger and dragged it down his now-bare chest.

The captain mentally shrugged. Whatever, let the fucktard be embarrassed.

He slid the door open apathetically not even bothering with a greeting—those bastards must be sucking out his energy, somehow—and stopped short.

"Good evening." The short, mussy-headed but neatly dressed second year greeted him amiably.

The conversation absolutely died behind the captain. Despite the idiot's big—and crude—words, no one really wanted to fuck with Eyeshield 21.

"This is just to inform you that my captain is above you in the rafters of the building recording everything you're saying and doing, in hopes you'll spill a critical strategy. Earlier, when you were on the field practicing, he was rifling through all of your papers, looking for the same." He informed them pleasantly.

"I… Uh… Why?" The captain stuttered.

Then the bomb when off. Literally.

A flash-bang grenade dropped from the ceiling, blinding and choking the team member still in the main area. The captain absently pulled the collar of his jersey over his mouth and nose, struck by the surrealism of the situation, and turned away from Deimon's runningback to watch first a rope, then a large, dark figure drop down from the ceiling, rappelling down the rope and (intentionally, it looked like) knocking the idiot first-year still standing on the bench to the ground.

"Well, I just think his tactics were a little shitty for a team we already have data on." The captain's eyes were dragged back to Sena.

"You don't have to be on the straight and narrow _all_ the time, damn it."

The team captain watched Deimon's team captain approach them, then shoulder-check him on his way out the door to Sena's side. The blond was dressed in an all-black Mission: Impossible-esq body suit, and round, tinted goggles that seemed a little steam-punk-ish.

The runningback just smiled up at him.

"Come on." Hiruma sighed, slinging an arm around his player and dropping a kiss on the crown of his head. "You were right, nothing new. Well, except for the first-years, but they're so fucking stupid that someone has to hold their fucking dick so they can piss."

The team captain found himself nodding along with the assessment.

"Let's go." Sena suggested, "The team's gone, so I want to run drills with you tonight."

If the way Hiruma grinned at that was any indication, perhaps even the idiot had hit a moment of insight. The captain tilted his head thoughtfully. A thousand monkeys, thousand typewriters situation?

As he watched the Deimon duo walk away more important questions floated through the haze that the sheer impossibly of the situation. The only one he could recall later, though, when cleaning up the locker room and watching the whimpering first-years stagger away from the clubroom was: Where the fuck did Hiruma get a fucking grenade?


End file.
